AMMAN — Tens
of drivers who work for ride-share application companies like Careem and Uber
carried out an hours-long protest Monday morning close to the
Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) in Shafa Badran.
اضافة اعلان
Drivers
who spoke to
Jordan News, said that the LTRC had recently decided to
reduce the operational life of their cars from seven to five years and has not
fulfilled nine demands that they had submitted to the
Ministry of Transport and
the LTRC over a year ago.
Demands by
the drivers included an extension of vehicles operating life to 10 years,
reducing the vehicle permit fees to JD200 annually instead of JD400, and
allowing them to renew their permits through the Transport Regulatory Authority
directly without referring to their respective companies.
Majdi
Saafin, a driver, taking part in the protest, said they protested “because at a
time when we ask the concerned entities to not reduce the operational life of
our cars from seven to five years, we were surprised that they (LTRC) issued an
official decision to do so.”
He said
they have tried to meet with the commission head more than once, but
unfortunately we could not.”
Saafin spoke
of the financial difficulties that drivers face and their inability to pay
their dues and debts “and don’t need added burdens and commitments,” adding
that the drivers intend to keep on protesting daily if their demands are not
going to be fulfilled soon.
Mohammad
Abu Meshref, a driver, said that “some representatives of the
Lower House promised drivers to listen to their demands in a meeting that will be held on
Tuesday.”
He told
Jordan
News that if the demands are not going to be fulfilled during the meeting,
“drivers intend to carry more protests.”
Abu
Meshref also said that the Head of LTRC has refused to listen to their demands,
or to meet with them, which is why they insist on staging more protests, noting
the difficult financial conditions they endure.
Despite numerous attempts by
Jordan News, officials at the LTRC were not available for comment.
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