Riyadh: The Saudi Arabian Transport General Authority on Sunday ordered an increase in public taxi fares in cities. The minimum fare for any journey in public cabs for four passengers has been fixed at 10 riyals.
According to the latest pricing, the base rate has been increased by 16.67 per cent per extra kilometer to 2.1 riyals instead of 1.8. The waiting charge has also been increased by 12.5 per cent per minute. It will now be 0.90 instead of the earlier rate of 0.80 per minute. If the vehicle speed is less than 20 kilometers per hour, the same rate will be charged. The meter starting rate was raised by 16.36 per cent. Earlier it was 5.5 riyals but now it has been increased to 6.4. For taxis with a capacity of five or more passengers, the opening rate has increased by 21.67 per cent. The new rate will be 7.3 riyals instead of 6 riyals.
The waiting charge has been increased from 1.9 riyals per minute to 1.1 riyals. This is an increase of about 22.22% over the previous year, the Saudi Arabian Transport General Authority said in a statement.