Taxis in Yangon are privately owned and there are no regulations limiting their activities so far. Since late 2016, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said that YRTA will collect the numbers of taxis first and will then manage a working system. 

In the past, the Yangon Region Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles started shouldering responsibility for city taxi registration and extension. If someone is going drive a city taxi, they first need to register at the Road Transport Administration Department (RTAD) and then they also need to obtain a business license at the Ministry of Rail Transportation, Transport Department.

Additionally, potential drivers must then register as a city taxi at the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). Since October 2014, the Yangon Region Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles has been in charge of this.  

To instill strict disciplines effectively, YRTA announced that December 31 is the deadline for taxi vehicles to register their status. YRTA will take action against those who fail to comply. 

“We need to know how many taxis are running in Yangon because we don’t know the exact numbers. After that, we will place the taxis under a company system and the company must be responsible and control all the taxis,” said YRTA secretary U Maung Aung. 

Improving the system

Residents in Yangon have long hoped that the YRTA can improve the taxi system.  

After upgrading the public bus system earlier this year, the Yangon regional government is going to reform the taxi system, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said in January. 

Under the current situation, two local taxi operations — Hello Cab and Oway Ride — and two international taxi operations — Uber and Grab — are operating their services. 

But there were many private taxis still left and Yangon’s commuters are using taxis through a bargaining system for fares. These taxis are not using meters or regular air conditioning.  

Some people have criticised that the number of taxis in Yangon is excessive and citing that the previous government gave the sector a free hand by not regulating it. Most taxi owners bought the vehicles and used them as taxis by hiring drivers. 

“If necessary, we will stop the services of ‘personal’ or ‘unregulated’ taxis. Those will only be limited for personal use and cannot do business anymore,” the chief minister noted in January.  

According to the documents of RTAD, there were over 60,000 taxis registered at RTAD but this number does not include unregistered vehicles. 

The number of vehicles working under existing systems is insufficient and too many unregistered ones are left roaming along the roads. The lack of professionalism as well as bad attitudes of many drivers are also common complaints from commuters.

Hence, the people want the government to create a professional and efficient taxi system in Yangon.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/all-yangon-taxis-have-until-year-end-register-their-vehicles.html