A motion to affirm concessions for taxis was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday. The Affirmation of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Regulations 2010 received support of all the parties.
Last year, President Bharrat Jagdeo met the owners of taxi services countrywide to discuss measures to modernise the service and the yellow cab initiative emerged. According to a joint statement from the Office of the President and the operators, cars attached to a service must be sprayed in corporate yellow by January 1, while those not registered with a service have the option of doing so. However, the private operators will not enjoy the benefits of the concessions if they choose not to go with the prescribed colour.
Last month, the government had offered 10-year concessions for those who complied and extended the deadline for compliance with the new regulation to January 1, 2011.These include a 25% reduction in excise tax charged on vehicles imported for registration as a yellow cab; a 10-year waiver on the motor vehicle licence fee paid by registered yellow cabs; and a 10-year waiver on the fitness fee for yellow cabs. Complying operators had previously been granted a waiver of fees for revenue licences, road service licences, fitness certificates and radio spectrum for a two-year period. That had been conditional on the fulfilment of the usual requirements by the Guyana Revenue Authority and the police.
Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee said in the National Assembly on Thursday that the motion was necessary for the concessions to be mounted on a legal footing. PNCR Parliamentarian Deborah Backer supported the motion as well as Alliance for Change, Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan and the motion was passed.
