Limos infringing on taxis' turf

Limousines that cost more than ordinary cabs and are meant for call-centre orders only have been accepting fares off the street.

Shoppers loading up a limousine at Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

ABU DHABI // Limousine drivers are taking advantage of visitors to the capital and breaking hire car regulations by collecting passengers from taxi ranks. The drivers, from the companies Al Ghazal Transport and National Transport, are only allowed to provide limo services at hotels and from Abu Dhabi International Airport or when ordered through a call centre, said Huda al Kaabi, senior communications officer for TransAD, the emirate's regulator of transport by hire cars.

However, the limos - a white Mercedes estate car or sedan, Chevrolet Caprice or an unmarked black Audi A6 from Al Ghazal, a black Lexus or silver Toyota Camry from National Transport - have been seen waiting at the passenger drop-off at Marina Mall. Some customers go in search of taxis there, though taxi drivers are forbidden to pick up passengers at the spot and are supposed to go to the queue nearer the mall's main entrance.

Two limo drivers said they were available for hire when asked by a reporter from The National and did not think they were committing a violation. One driver of a Mercedes Benz estate car for Al Ghazal said passengers getting into his car knew it was more expensive. "People who take Al Ghazal are rich ones." The meter of an Al Ghazal limousine starts at Dh15 during the day, rising by Dh2.50 each kilometre while National Transport's meters start at Dh10, rising by Dh1 every 150 metres. By comparison, a silver taxi's meter starts at Dh3 during the day and rises by Dh1 per kilometre for the first 50 kilometres.

Ms al Kaabi said the drivers were committing a traffic offence by operating as taxis without the appropriate permits. She added that limos were barred by law from accepting passengers other than through a call centre order. TransAD said inspectors had the power to fine limo drivers caught breaking the rules, though it did not give the amount of the fine. Abdulla al Sabbagh, the regulator's general manager, said it had drafted new rules for limousines. These would standardise fares, make drivers pass tests and define what type of vehicle could be considered a limousine. Those regulations have been drafted and are awaiting approval from the Department of Transport.

"Now, Toyota Camry, they said this is a limousine," Mr al Sabbagh said. "The small car is no good. We want only luxury cars to come under limousine." The limo drivers hanging around the mall can mislead customers such as Alfred Taringo, 26, who hopped into the back of a silver-coloured Toyota Camry from National Transport after it had dropped a customer off. When told by a reporter that he was in a limo and the trip would cost him more, the Filipino, who was visiting family, quickly got out of the car.

"I didn't know the cost," Mr Taringo said. In the meantime, another passenger climbed in. In a statement, Brett Subritzky, director of Al Ghazal Transport, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Hotels, said that drivers would be "reminded of our requirement to collect only passengers who have booked through our call centre or from any of the hotels we provide service for". However, Mr Subritzky said the company received hundreds of telephone bookings daily for its limousines, and on average responded to 25 requests for pickups from Marina Mall.

Saaed Suliman, a dispatching supervisor for National Transport, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels, said the company did not send limos to locations other than the airport and the hotels it had deals with unless someone had contacted its call centre for a pickup. Told that one of his drivers had been spotted collecting passengers from Marina Mall, he said National Transport investigated customer complaints and took action when necessary.

"Something like that would have been done without informing us," Mr Suliman said. "Some drivers do such things but not all of them." However, Mr Suliman said sometimes Marina Mall called his company when it had a long queue of passengers waiting for a cab. [e-mail]