ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Taxi drivers will have to comply with new measures from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Interior Ministry, imposed in a bid to combat harassment by drivers.
All taxi drivers must register with the Transport Labourers Syndicate and obtain a security authorization, according to the new regulations introduced this week.
In addition, in every taxi the driver must display two cards. One will provide their personal information, including a photograph. The second will provide emergency phone numbers of security forces and the directorate for combatting violence against women.
These measures come after recent reports of sexual assaults by taxi drivers against women. Rudaw TV recently highlighted the subject.
The popular Legal Ranj programme hosted clergymen and KRG officials on Thursday.
“One of our female relatives carries a knife whenever she takes on a taxi to protect herself from threats,” cleric Mullah Rebin Dindar said during the programme, acknowledging he has heard stories of taxi drivers committing assault and harassment.
Sami Jalal, chief of general staff at the Interior Ministry, admitted “There is a sort of indifference in taxi regulations in the Kurdistan Region.”
He said his ministry was working on reforms.
One problem is the sheer number of taxis on Kurdistan Region’s roads.
There are 92,000 taxis in the Region, said Salah Jawhar, general director of the transport department at the KRG’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.
“It is not easy to regulate them,” he said.
Under the new regulations introduced by the ministry, drivers must own their own taxis and no new registration will be issued until an existing one is invalidated.
Taxi drivers and owners have until June 1 to implement the new rules. If they fail to do so, their cars will be confiscated by the traffic police.