JOHANNESBURG - This week taxi operators are mulling over one big question; this is to hike taxi fare or not to hike taxi fare?
It comes amid the latest announcement of fuel price increases, which are set to kick in at midnight.
SANTACO national spokesperson Rebecca Phala said they find themselves in a difficult position.
While they have to navigate the fuel price hike that continues to add pressure on taxi operators, they also need to consider commuters, whose household budgets she said are already stretched.
Taking this into account, Phala said they have to be "incredibly careful to strike some sort of balance despite the difficult circumstances".
READ | Govt warns against panic buying as record fuel prices take effect
According to Phala, the taxi association has not yet made a decision on whether or not to hike fare prices, but those conversations are already underway.
“There are a number of things that we want to exhaust from our end. We'll be engaging with the leadership of all provinces tomorrow.
“So far, though, the national office bearers, which is the highest decision-making body, have already decided to say, we are going to engage with those in the fuel sector, because the industry does have buying power, considering the number of vehicles that we have and the consumption that we do to fuel. But we're also going to engage with the government.”
With engagements with relevant sectors taking place, Phala said they will have a decision by Thursday at the very least.
READ | Fuel price increase could push up cost of goods, freight industry warns
“The reason why we're not immediately announcing whether we'll be increasing fares or not is that we know that our commuters complained already. I mean, since March, when these increases started to be announced, we've only ever increased once, and they were already complaining about that.
“We understand it's because they are between a rock and a hard place, and so we are.”