Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau

The taxi permit barrel draw is not a transparent way of issuing permits and is a cumbersome process that involves a lot of resources.

Speaking in Parliament Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau says the barrel draw led to an unfair and discriminatory distribution of taxi permits and allowed those with inferior motives rather than genuine ones to operate the taxi.

Ro Filipe says it is unlikely that they will use the lottery system again.

He adds out of the 2536 applications that went into the barrel draw for the respective transport zones, 1553 taxi permits were issued to accommodate the available transport quota.

“Some of those permits, which were acquired through the barrel draw, have been transferred under a sale and purchase agreement for profiteering purposes. Applicants who were issued such taxi permits have neglected the reason for the issuance of the permit.”

Ro Filipe says zone taxi operators under the open taxi ranking system are flocking to the urban areas to operate, thus neglecting the demand in the rural areas.

He adds the acquisition of permits through sales and purchases is also under review.

The Transport Minister says it is shocking that some taxi permits are sold for up to $60,000 and that it encourages unethical behavior and corruption in the industry.