Govt. to regulate airport taxi service

• Tourism Minister says quick measures will be taken on President Rajapaksa’s instructions 
• Plans made to register companies, provide training, certificate, introduce uniform, identity card, colour code for vehicles, branding, special arrival and departure permit, pricing mechanism
• Airport Tourist Drivers Association claims due to irregularities, BIA taxis became a substandard service

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said the taxi service will be regulated to curb the malpractices that occur at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). During a discussion held with the representatives of the Airport Tourist Drivers Association (ATDA) last Friday (17 January), Ranatunga stressed that quick steps will be taken to prevent misuse of service and inconvenience to tourists coming to the country.

The Minister acknowledged that these steps will be taken on the instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He said President Rajapaksa paid special attention to this matter during his unannounced visit to the BIA on Friday, which was followed by a discussion held at the airport.“The services provided at the airport is a critical factor for the development of the tourism industry as it is the first impression a visitor gets when they arrive. Going forward, we want to streamline the taxi service at the BIA,” Ranatunga added.

Accordingly, the Minister said that in future, they hope to register all taxi operating companies and provide the drivers with international training and certifications to operate at the BIA. “We will launch a program to train drivers who are engaged in this profession and introduce a special uniform, identity card, special arrival and departure permit, and a specific pricing mechanism for the airport taxi charges. In addition, vehicles will also be branded according to a colour code to make it easy to identify the means of transportation involved in airport taxi service,” he added.

Furthermore, the Minister stressed that they plan to conduct quality tests of these cabs operating at BIA on a monthly basis to ensure safety for the travellers.

He said that this was also a key promise outlined in the President’s manifesto, ‘Visions of Prosperity and Splendour’.

The Minister pointed out that he had received a lot of complaints about the various irregularities conducted by the taxis operating at the BIA. It was also revealed during the discussion that some of these taxi companies operating at BIA are not registered with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).

ATDA Secretary Asanka Godakumbura claimed that due to the irregularities of the management during the previous regime, BIA taxis became a substandard service which tourists feared using. “The cab drivers had been mistreated during the previous regime. The UNP Government provided four of the six tourist windows at the airport’s arrival terminal to the thugs of the party and as a result, the BIA taxis became a substandard service,” he said.

Representatives of the Association also charged that there was method of robbing passengers, while staying at the airport and forcibly loading them into vehicles.

Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Marina Mohamed also participated in the discussion.