The government is considering restarting registration of new taxies in Bagmati Zone within the current fiscal year. 

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has said it will take the issue of new cab registration to the new government soon. 

After allowing more than 8,000 cabs in the zone, the government in May 2000 had halted the registration. 

According to the Transport Ministry, its study has shown there are around 5,500 taxis in operation and the majority of them are more than 15 years old.

With the number of population growing in the valley over the last one decade, the Department of Transport Management has been receiving pressure from potential new taxi entrepreneurs to allow them bring in new cabs for last couple of years. Transport Ministry officials, however, said permitting new taxis require a political decision. 

Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Transport Ministry, said as soon as they get a new Transport Minister, they would resume discussions on the registration of new cabs in Bagmati. “We will also be studying whether the existing 5,500 cabs are sufficient,” he said.

Last year, the Transport Ministry had tried to allow operation of new taxies, but the plan was later shelved following opposition from taxi entrepreneurs and their associations. Taxi operators have been saying the number of taxies in operation is enough, according to the Department of Transport Management.

However; Ram Bahadur Thapa, who has long been asking the government to reopen the registration and end syndicate in transport sector, said the government “is protecting syndicate imposers”. “Even as the government is positive on bringing in new taxies, existing taxi entrepreneurs are stopping the government from doing so exploiting their political contacts,” he said.

Thapa has requested the Prime Minister’s Office, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Transport Ministry and Transport Department to reopen new taxi registration and take action against transporters imposing syndicate. 

A high-level official at the Transport Ministry said new taxis are needed not because if their fewer numbers, but because of the low-quality service the existing cabs offer. “Customers are paying Rs 37 per km for the old taxis registered more than two decades ago,” he said.

Customers riding on a cab have to pay Rs 14 as starting (flag down) charge and Rs 37 for every km they travel. There are also complaints of metre tampering and cases of taxi drivers refusing to operate, an official at the Transport Department said, underscoring the need for determining service quality and operation period of taxi, besides strict monitoring.