I was going through Kuwestions when I spotted a question by a reader who asked why taxis were so filthy? One person left a pretty interesting response which I’ve shared below (with minor editing):
Taxi drivers don’t have salaries (although on paper it says they do). The system works as follows:
a- The taxi company (most of the time it is just a small office with one owner) rents the taxi for the driver by day. According to the car, the condition of the driver (new in Kuwait or not) and how greedy the owner is, the rent can go from KD5 to KD7.5 per day.
b- The driver is responsible for everything in the car. The company doesn’t pay anything. If the car is hit, stolen, damaged or whatever, the driver pays for it and they have to keep paying the rent even if the car is in the garage being repaired.
c- The driver pays all the car registration fees, insurance fees, residency fees, etc.. usually the company should pay for these, at least the residency fees, but not in the case of the taxi drivers, they have to pay.
d- The drivers have to deal with greedy employees inside the taxi company as well. You want the mandoob to get your driving license so you can work today? Pay him KD5-KD10, otherwise just wait, maybe he will go there next week to get it for you while you are paying your daily taxi rental fees but not driving and making money.
As a result of all the above, the drivers get greedy as well and try to survive by any means. Another reason drivers don’t care about the cars is that most people here treat them extremely bad. So what is the point of cleaning the car, and wasting an hour or two when they can instead just rest, or try to find another customer who will eventually also leave their trash behind.
The taxis that are just plain white are “Call taxis”. These taxis are not permitted by law to stop and pick a customer off the street, they have to be ordered by phone. But, taxi companies just give these cars to drivers and let them go and pick customers off the street because the government stopped issuing “Gawwala” licenses (the licenses for the beige/white cars). These taxis get fined a lot because of that and they also have to pay these fines.
One more thing. Before the new taxi fares, taxis would not let you pay by the meter because the price of the meter was too low. And now after the new higher meter fares that were introduced, people are not willing to pay by the meter because its more expensive. So cab drivers are still stuck in the same place.
So basically unless major restructuring of the whole taxi system happens, things aren’t going to get any better.
The reader had gotten all this information from one of his best friends who is currently working as a taxi driver in Kuwait. You can check out the original thread on Kuwestions [Here]
Thanks Tarek!
25 replies on “Why Taxis in Kuwait are so Filthy”
Another alternative is Careem. You have the expected price before hand and you don’t have to pay by cash, I personally prefer using my credit card and the prices are great. You avoid most of the hassle the person mentioned in the post above
Agree. Experience with Taxis on Careem has been good. Cars are much cleaner.
If Careem charges you with the same fare or higher, then I think other option will be to use regular taxis, pay the actual fare, and refuse to ride any taxi in a bad condition. If all of them take the same amount of money, we as customers will have the power to control which taxi to take based on condition rather than keep negotiating the fare that is already defined by the government then take the lowest one.
And you can earn Skywards Miles!!!
Great explanation for the situation
Hope things are done on higher level to solve this chaos !
Thanks for posting about this problem. I hope it will get resolved soon.
On a side note, I talked with my friend yesterday about the question and how that many customers are complaining about it, he is aware of the issue and knows that it is the case with many taxis and thinks that one solution is that customers should refuse getting in a taxi with such condition, this way drivers will notice this problem and try to solve it as much as they can. But just try to pay by the actual fare.
He called me later and told me that he purchased a new seat cover to replace the one he had because of some tears in the back seat :D.
Now, try to solve the expensive Kuwaiti taxi drivers from the airports. Last week I got back from Dubai via Fly Dubai, I got ambushed by Kuwaiti drivers 4 in numbers, at the same time, one took my suitcase and run to his car. I started screaming I was so mad. Then a gentleman came to me and said sorry, this is not right. I decided to go with him and we ended up talking.
He explain to me that the Kuwaitis who driver these airport taxi as forced into it, because of their retirement plans. Most of them Police officers, airport security etc. All of them near their retirement, but not able to continue their job. For him it was a sad story, to long to mentioned. But all over I don’t agree with this system, because they drive like madness, they don’t speak English (most of them) and the taxi stinks. This is not the way to show new comers to Kuwait, what a brilliant country we live in.
Now Add the haggling at the exit to it, and we look like a Zoo.
You should opt for the limousine service at the main airport (on your right when you exit). Its a prepaid service, costs ~2 KD more than the shitty airport taxi (on your left) but offers brand new (and spacious) cars, free water bottles, courteous drivers that understand and speak English and above all, safety!
I am surprised you didnt go with them at the Fly Dubai terminal. IIRC they are the deault option there.
I don’t know, I just got used to go left.
But I will take right, next time.
Here’s another taxi story from another part of GCC, Abu Dhabi to be precise. My wife and I visited Abu Dhabi for a weekend. Got in a taxi driven by a female driver from East Africa. Well-spoken, clean taxi. Told us that the government started the female-driven taxis some years ago to facilitate female passengers and/or families. The government puts them through a rigorous training program, I think it was 6 months before they hit the roads. The program even includes training on UAE / Abu Dhabi history, leaders, key historical sites and of course all points on interest in Abu Dhabi to help tourists. Female taxi drivers have accommodation together and I think she said there are at least a few hundred of them now. Very impressive effort by Abu Dhabi.
If they bring about the same Taxi system as RTA Dubai I feel, it would do wonders here.
Found that the Taxi’s are very clean and the Drivers are Professional over there…
More than once I’ve had a taxi driver in Dubai leave the meter on “by mistake” when they picked me up and then say oh I’ve gone too far to reset it now
This is one of the most interesting aspects of services like Careem and Uber. They create incentives to do your job better as a driver, and they also create an incentive to be a better customer. Everyone is better off.
Today, a driver has no incentive to maintain his own personal hygiene, or the cleanliness of his car because you will only realize how dire your experience will be once you are actually in the car and won’t really have a choice to do anything about it. You also cannot punish that driver for the bad experience.
Careem and Uber weed out bad drivers and bad customers and good participants in the ecosystem get rewarded for their behavior.
I came back via T4 last week and ordered a Careem, by the time he came, he refused to pick me up and said he’s not allowed! the fair was 3 KD to Jabriya, i ended up paying 8 KD for the same journey via airport service… ffs
The rule enforced in Kuwait is that taxis are forbidden to pick up from the airport so that we either compelled to take the airport taxi or ask a friend to pick us up. The logic is that the airport taxi gets the business and that too, it’s paid to the taxi airport office and not to the driver.
it’s true. I just went to farwaniya maroor yesterday and their treatment towards expats is ridiculous. The officer was treating everyone like animals and pushing everyone out and only accepting mandoob.
Rich or poor hygiene/cleanliness should still be on top of the priority list.
+1
Okay. If you are poor in Kuwait (taxi driver poor) you end up sharing a bathroom/shower and bed space with 50 other people. Let’s see you being in that situation and maintaining your personal hygiene as top priority. Please don’t let your ignorance shine through.
Not sure how a poor person is supposed to budget for perfumes and deo or his meal for the day?
Taxis in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are amazing because the whole business has been consolidated by 2-3 players. However, there is always a flipside: Drivers have to meet rigourous targets but usually less paid. BUT many many upsides for passengers: No haggle required; Taxis are clean Drivers are well mannered; you can complaint. In fact uptill 2015, Taxis in Abu Dhabi were lot lot cheaper than in Dubai. Recently they standardized the rates across UAE. Not much benefits to the drivers, however, more money getting pulled from passengers pockets. Overall, a good experience in UAE.
We, with my family, managed 3 years in UAE without a CAR! Which is an absolute necessity here in Kuwait.
Its like modern day slavery. Once I met a taxi driver who was sick with a bad flu and when I asked him why didn’t he take a few days off, he replied that he has to pay KD 7 for each day to his company whether he is sick or not. He was in bed for a day or two and then he just got up & out thinking how will he pay the money. When they go for a month to their native country, they still have to pay KD 7 each day to the company. Hope these owners rot in hell.
+1
Capitalism end game.
FYI this is pretty much how Uber operates. Main difference there being the rating system keeps you in cleaner cars but in most countries the Uber drivers I speak to on longer trips are very clear that most Uber drivers fell for a scam and lose money.