Department Approves 201 Metered Taxi Operating Licence Applications

Statement by Donald Grant, Minister of Transport and Public Works

The Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE) in the Department of Transport and Public Works has today (9 July 2015) approved 201 metered taxi operating licences as supported by the City of Cape Town.

Of those approved applications, 145 have been applications from Uber partners.

The decision to award these operating licences follows a period of careful consideration and continued engagement with the City of Cape Town, the relevant planning authority, as required by the National Land Transport Act (NLTA). 

In supporting applications for operating licences the planning authority, in this case the City of Cape Town, must indicate whether there is a need for the service on the route/s or area/s in terms of its integrated transport plan (ITP). The planning authority must then direct the PRE to grant the operating licences and also make the appropriate recommendations with regard to conditions that must be attached to the operating licence. The PRE is obliged to act in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s ITP and must not grant an operating licence contrary to the direction of the planning authority’s ITP.

The 201 operating licence applications that the PRE has approved must now be captured and decision letters sent out to applicants. Applicants will thereafter be able to uplift these operating licences from the PRE.

E-hailing services like Uber, however, do not fall easily into the categories of a public transport service as prescribed by the National Land Transport Act, nor are they  specifically provided for in the City of Cape Town’s ITP. This situation can only be rectified through a change in legislation, whether that be an amendment to the NLTA, or the promulgation of a municipal by-law by the City of Cape Town. Both processes are currently under way, and are likely to produce answers to important questions posed by the entry of Uber into the public transport arena.

In the interim, various engagements have taken place between Western Cape Government, The City of Cape Town, and Uber, and partners have agreed that Uber partners will apply for metered taxi operating licences while amendments are effected to the National Land Transport Act to accommodate this new mode.

The Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town remain in support of new and innovative ways of providing safe and reliable public transport, however we cannot shirk our responsibility for ensuring safety and compliance within the public transport space. This is as important for commuter safety as it is for the responsible management of the public transport industry. It is essential that operations within the industry are regularised to promote fairness and to avoid conflict.