The Coalition government is moving ahead with plans to abolish the Open Taxi Rank System.
This is through the passing of the Transport (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025 in Parliament yesterday.
“Following the enactment of the Land Transport (Budget Amendment) Act 2021, the Act was amended to establish the Open Taxi Rank System (‘OTRS’) and removed the Base and Stand system,” states the explanatory part of the Bill.
“As a result, the OTRS in municipalities such as Suva has since become heavily congested, with an influx of taxis from various districts contributing significantly to traffic congestion.”
“This trend has also led to a notable decline in the availability of taxi services in rural and semi-rural communities.”
“As a consequence, residents in these areas have increasingly turned to unlicensed and illegal transport operators to meet their travel needs.”
The Land Transport (Amendment) (No. 2) Act will come into effect soon after the President has given his assent.
