Dubai: More than 1,000 taxis were forced to take alternative routes yesterday after their Salik tags did not arrive in time for the first day of the new road toll system.
Despite the two-day grace period, meaning that fines incurred will be cancelled if a Salik tag is purchased within two days of the violation, taxi drivers said they were worried about being penalised.
The manager of a taxi company in Dubai, who did not wish to be identified, told Gulf News that his company had applied for tags for a fleet of 1,000 cars last week. Yet late yesterday the company had still not received any tags from the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA).
"I think it is because we registered last week, as we were still in discussions with the RTA about whether taxis were going to be tolled," he said. "We still haven't received anything."
An RTA spokesperson said that a delay had been caused by the fact that some taxi companies had put off applying for Salik tags until last week. Another reason was that mistakes had been found in some applications, he said, adding that the companies in question had been told to expect the tags within the coming two days.
Fleet executive for Arabia Taxi, Mukhtar Ahmad said that while they had received an unusually high number of complaints from customers about the extra Dh4 charge, most of his fleet of 562 taxis was fitted with Salik tags yesterday.
"But we still think that taxis should be exempt from the toll. We tried to speak to the RTA because our customers are so unhappy and because taxis are a form of public transport."
Abdul Latif, 38, a taxi driver who has yet to receive the tag, said that he received many complaints from passengers. "My passengers were not happy, especially one man I took from Bur Dubai to Media City. It took me over one hour because I had to take alternative routes," he said.
- With additional inputs from Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
