Dubai: 52 fines issued over illegal taxi services around airport

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) levied 52 fines on illegal taxi services transporting passengers at Dubai Airport Terminal 2 in February this year.

Saeed Al Balushi, director of Passenger Transport Activities Monitoring, RTA, said: “The first inspection from February 19-28, in conjunction with the General Department of Airports Security resulted in detection of 52 violations at Dubai Airport Terminal 2.

“Of these, 41 violations comprised drivers transporting passengers in unlicensed vehicles, while 11 were for violations at the airport.

The practice of illegal transportation of passengers is done in two ways. In the first instance, private vehicles are used to transport passengers where there is no social relationship between the driver and passengers. The driver will earn a fee against transporting passengers within the emirate or to other emirates.

“The second method is offering passenger transport as though it is a public transport service, either through face-to-face interaction or social media and other electronic platforms,” added Al Balushi.