Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: With beard covering his deep facial wrinkles, 60-year-old taxi driver Khalid Awan waits for passengers in the Aabpara market daily, hoping to earn a square meal for his family.

He asks almost all pedestrians if they want to hire a taxi but his request is turned and he starts cleaning the windscreen of his worn-out vehicle.

Khalid, a residence of Abbottabad, came to Islamabad in 2000 along with his family to educate their kids for a good future. At that time he purchased a taxi on installments, got a rented house in Rawalpindi and admitted their two kids to a local school as he was earning enough money to make both ends meet.

However, with the advent of ride-hailing services or online cab services, Khalid is no more earning enough money even to afford the fee of his children as people now prefer to hire online cab services to commute to their destinations.

“I was earning Rs 1,000 to 1,400 daily and was living happily with my family but after the online cab service hit the capital’s roads my earning got freeze and my 23-year-old son had to leave studies after graduation,” Khalid added.

According to statistics, there are more than 6,000 vehicles registered with different companies plying the roads of twin cities, providing services to the people, with most of the car captains comprising students or government employees, managing their expenses by part-time driving.

Khalid’s vehicle is somewhat scruffy with most of parts in a shabby condition and he is not even able to drive the car at the normal speed owing to poor-maintenance.

It was 8pm on Thursday night when he told Daily Times that no passenger had booked a ride with him. “My wife had called me twice to come back to the house as it was getting late but how I could return to my house with an empty pocket,” he said in a trembling voice.

Most of the traditional taxi drivers have got their vehicles registered with online cab services but Khalid’s car didn’t fulfil the registration requirements for being outdated.

“I got this car on installments. With such condition it will be sold for Rs 200,000, which is not enough to get a new vehicle to be registered with online cab services.

Also the upward trend in the prices of petroleum products is taking its toll on the poverty-stricken traditional taxi drivers. Khalid said that increase in prices of petroleum products was the last nail in the coffin for downtrodden taxi drivers. “Initially, I was earning Rs 400 to 500 on a daily basis but the increase in POL prices in the past recent months slashed my earning to Rs 300, restricting me to pay the rent of my house.”

He said that apart from the financial crunch, his health was also deteriorating fearing that he could not even earn sustenance.

“We know that the online cab services are comfortable and secure but the government should also think about people linked to traditional taxi service.

Published in Daily Times, March 16^th 2018.