Africa-Press – Lesotho. A taxi war is brewing in Lesotho and it might turn bloody if cool heads don’t prevail. The battle is between the traditional taxis and Catch-a-Ride, a group of drivers who use social media to pick up commuters.
Traditional taxi operators claim Catch-a-Ride is an illegal business “stealing” passengers and “killing” their business. They have threatened to use every means necessary to fight back.
That’s a mild way of saying they will use violence. Catch-a-Ride’s association says the Ministry of Transport has rejected their application to register. Instead of calming tempers the ministry has branded Catch-a-Ride an illegal business and warned people against using its cars.
While we appreciate that Catch-a-Ride is currently operating on the grey side of the law, we believe the government should not reject its registration offhandedly.
The traditional taxi operators’ fear is justified but the violent reaction is unacceptable. In any case, both the government and the traditional taxi owners are fighting a losing battle.
Catch-a-Ride is an innovation that cannot be blocked, reversed or wished away. Sooner rather than later, the government will have to accommodate Catch-a-Ride and other operators of its ilk.
The traditional taxi operators should adapt or perish because Catch-a-Ride is here to stay. Catch-a-Ride is popular because it’s faster, cheaper and more convenient.
Its taxi ranks are Facebook and WhatsApp, the very ‘places’ where people connect for leisure and business. The government should concern itself with finding ways of regulating instead of blocking it.
Traditional taxi operators should accept these changing trends and move with the times. Global trends show that blocking and threatening innovations like a Catch-a-Ride is almost futile.
Uber, the world’s biggest taxi company, doesn’t own a single taxi but is an application connecting commuters to private drivers. Its success has motivated other investors to launch similar companies to create competition that has largely benefitted commuters in both price and choice.
And it’s not the taxi industry alone being buffeted by hurricanes of change. Nearly every industry is under threat from some innovation of sorts. Airbnb is the largest hotel company but doesn’t own a single hotel.
It is an application connecting homeowners to guests who want short-term accommodation. It is in Lesotho as well yet lodge owners are not threatening violence but using it to their benefit.
Newspapers are losing advertising revenue to social media platforms. Retail shops have faced off against the likes of Amazon and other digital platforms eating into markets they have traditionally monopolised.
Diesel and petrol cars are gradually making way for electric cars. There is therefore nothing new with Catch-a-Ride. The taxi operators now threatening violence on Catch-a-Ride are creatures of the same innovation they are fighting.
It is because of them that the 80-seater buses have all but disappeared from our roads after they brought in commuter omnibuses that were cheaper to run and convenient for commuters.
Free market forces allowed them to chase the bigger buses off the road. The yellow-bellied sedans that are now a menace on our roads were an innovation in the taxi industry.
They too have been allowed to fight it out on our roads. Taxi operators cannot now claim to be powerless victims of the same innovation that made them.
They should play fair and not rush to the government to seek intervention. The government should resist the temptation to sustain a cartel that doesn’t help the taxi industry and benefit commuters.
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