Gov’t urged to increase operational age of ride-hailing app vehicles

AMMAN — The Lower House has called on the government to increase the operational age of  cars used for smart transport applications from five years to 10 years.

“As the pandemic crisis is entering its third year, many sectors have been affected, specifically the transport sector. We demand to raise the operational age of ride-hailing apps from five years to 10 years, the Lower House wrote to the government.

In Jordan, the current law stipulates that cars used for ride-hailing applications, like Uber and Careem, cannot be older than five years.  

Most of the car owners (13,000) in the Kingdom still have their cars mortgaged and the end of their operational age means they will be sold in public auction, therefore, increasing unemployment rates and its social impact,” the letter noted.

The Lower House emphasised the importance of the transport sector in increasing overall economic growth.

According to the “Smart Applications Captains Union” Facebook page, they have been demanding to increase the operational age of ride-hailing applications for a long time, along with other demands to improve their work. 

The drivers will hold a sit-in in front of the House of Representatives building on Tuesday as a protest against “the neglect of their demands” by the Ministry of Transport, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission and other concerned authorities.

Ahmad Naser, a ride-hailing captain, noted that the increase in the operational age will have a significant positive impact on the drivers.

 “Meeting this demand will help us immensely and will relieve the owners of mortgaged vehicles, which will preserve the vitality of our service sector,” he told The Jordan Times on Monday.

Naser indicated that most of the ride-hailing apps cars’ operational age is above four to five years, which is why the decision must be taken urgently.

Mousa Ghannam, another ride-hailing captain, also demanded an immediate action from authorities.

“Raising the operational life to seven years as it was mentioned before is not enough. We demand 10 years, along with a customs exemption as well. The government must also obligate companies with a fair deduction rate that does not exceed 15 per cent of the value of the trip and shut down unlicensed applications whose drivers do not pay any taxes,” he told The Jordan Times.

Ghannam indicated that the number of drivers of smart transport application vehicles reaches 13,000, and most of their cars are mortgaged to banks.

“Most drivers are facing difficulty in paying monthly installments to the banks, especially since the banks refused to extend the payment of installments for all sectors, including car drivers,” he added.

Another driver, who preferred to stay anonymous, highlighted the importance of their demands as young Jordanians of all ages work as captains.

“Captains deserve their rights and they should have better working conditions so that the economy can develop,” he said.

He expressed hope that the government meets the sector’s demands and that the planned protest results in positive outcomes.