Staff Reporter<\/p>\n
THE Namibian Police and the Windhoek City Police intends to increase the number of inspections and enforcement actions against unlicensed transport services and illegal taxis in the country.
\nThis means that the police will likely impound vehicles that are operating illegally, fine drivers involved in such activities and also crack down on ride-hailing companies that facilitate the proliferation of illegal operators on their apps.<\/p>\n
This was revealed by LEFA’s co-founder and operations manager, Kalipi Aluvilu, who said that he welcomes the strong action that will be taken against illegal and unregulated transport services. Aluvilu said that such action is crucial given the string of incidents in which passengers were robbed, assaulted or involved in accidents while using unregulated transport services.<\/p>\n
“These incidents have highlighted the dangers of using unregulated taxi and shuttle services, which can leave passengers vulnerable to a range of risks,” Aluvilu said.<\/p>\n
He added that with the rise of ride-hailing apps, illegal passenger transport operators have become a growing concern, which pose a serious risk to both passengers and the wider public.<\/p>\n
“The issue of illegal passenger transport operators is not new to Namibia. In fact, it has been a problem for many years, with unlicensed operators offering rides for cheaper prices than licensed taxi and ride hailing services. This practice has led to a situation where many people are willing to take the risk of using unregulated and uninsured (passenger liability insurance) transport, even though they know that they are putting themselves in danger,” Aluvilu explained.<\/p>\n
Passengers are therefore advised to be vigilant and to refrain from getting into vehicles that do not display the correct permits and licences. The public is also advised to report any illegal taxis and ride-hailing operators to the authorities.<\/p>\n
File photo for illustrative purposes only.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE Namibian Police and the Windhoek City Police intends to increase the number of inspections and enforcement actions against unlicensed transport services and illegal taxis in the country. This means that the police will likely impound vehicles that are operating illegally, fine drivers involved in such activities and also crack down on ride-hailing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":336591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-336589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n