Khaberni - The Prime Ministership published in the Official Gazette a system to regulate passenger transport using smart apps for the year 2025, following the issuance of the Royal Decree approving it.
The system aims to encourage investment and enhance competitiveness by opening the field for granting licenses to new companies, in addition to standardizing the bank guarantee to become 100,000 dinars for all companies, to ensure seriousness and financial solvency.
This amendment targets stimulating competition in the market, reflecting in improved pricing, increased operational efficiency, enhanced service quality, and attracting new local and foreign investments in the smart transport sector; as a result of opening the licensing door to companies, thus providing direct and indirect job opportunities for those wishing to work on these apps.
The system also aims to activate many economic sectors related to the transport sector, and enhance the user experience through improving service quality and reducing unlicensed transport rates, due to sector regulation.
Under the system, the market will be opened to new companies, through the cancellation of the article that prohibited the approval of new licenses in the old system.
In terms of improving public safety, the new system included what serves the interest of all parties: the citizen, the licensee (companies), and the service provider (captain), through developing quality and compliance standards.
To achieve this end, the system stipulated that the operational age of the vehicle should not exceed seven years from the date of manufacture, that it should be equipped with electronic tracking features, and that it should carry a special decal whose specifications are determined by issued instructions.
The system also stipulated that the service provider's (captain) age should not exceed 65 years, that at least 3 years have passed since they were granted a driving license, that they have a certificate of passing a qualifying course to work on the apps' system, issued by the company’s training centers, and that they must be medically fit and have good character and behavior, and the car must be owned by them or a relative up to the second degree. Public transport vehicles authorized to transport passengers according to this system are exempted.
The system required companies to equip cars with self-monitoring systems to ensure service quality, and the security and safety of the service provider and passengers, within the conditions and specifications set by the authority.
The system also required companies to provide clear foundations for wages and commissions (service fees) to be accredited by the authority, and the necessity of signing a binding contract for data sharing and electronic connection with the authority, to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, data protection, and serving the public interest in monitoring pricing and distribution of trips and ratings.
The system mandated companies to allocate a number of cars to service people with special needs, and to commit to providing promotional offers for them, and to provide a system for receiving complaints and observations, organizing special records for their treatment, and providing a training center equipped for the purpose of qualifying and training service providers.
Car licensing operating according to this system requires that it be licensed and insured with insurance covering smart app services, exceeding the coverage of mandatory insurance, in addition to obliging companies to comply with the protections of personal data and cybersecurity law, thereby ensuring data security, safety, confidentiality, and availability permanently.
The system granted companies a period of six months from the date of its enforcement or from the expiration of the license, to rectify their situation.
Regarding taxi offices, the amended system added a new article exempting taxi offices, which wish to obtain a license to transport passengers using smart apps, from the requirement of registering a company with a capital of 100,000 dinars, and from the performance bond stipulated in article (4) of the system, which amounts to 50,000 dinars up to 100,000 dinars.
After the issuance of the system, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, upon the request of the Transport Authority's board of directors, will take the necessary measures to block any application or website that offers passenger transport services using smart apps without a license, or promotes downloading or using unlicensed apps.
The Cabinet approved a list of direct connection service prices through open application programming interfaces (APIs), aiming to reprice these interfaces to encourage emerging entrepreneurial companies to obtain required official information at reduced prices, after they were high previously, which affected the ability of emerging companies to obtain information and limited their capability to develop new software and applications.
Open application programming interfaces enable entrepreneurial companies, through their applications, to access the software of all governmental institutions in a secure manner that preserves everyone's rights, thereby providing an enabling environment for entrepreneurs.
