Qatar may get another taxi operator as transport company Mowasalat has invited bids for another franchisee from interested parties under the Karwa Franchise Programme.
This will be the fifth taxi franchisee of Karwa to enter the local market.
Besides Karwa’s own taxis, which were launched in September 2004, cabs run by four franchisees are at present operating in the country’s competitive taxi market.
The first Karwa franchisee, Al Million (maroon roof), started operations in July 2012, while Alijarah (blue) became the second operator to enter the taxi market.
The other two franchisees are Capital Taxis (grey) of Ibin Ajayan Trading and Contracting and Yellow Taxis (previously Car Cab) of Cars Taxi of Dubai.
In an invitation for bidding published in Gulf Times yesterday, Mowasalat said the new operator should be a Qatari-owned company having the financial and administrative ability to operate a fleet of up to 500 taxis.
It also specified that none of the existing franchisees would be eligible to participate in the bidding. The last date for submitting bids is June 5, before noon.
Besides Karwa taxis, a large number of the so-called private limousines are also plying the country’s roads.    
More than two years ago, Mowasalat had announced at a meeting that Qatar would have no less than 7,000 taxis by the turn of this decade. Recent enquiries with the four franchisees indicated that they together operated 2,500-2,750 taxis while Karwa runs more than 1,500 cabs in the country. 
Qatar’s population was about 650,000 when the Karwa taxis were launched in 2004. In contrast, the latest Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics records put the population at more than 2.67mn. The demand for taxis has also gone up over the years.
While all taxis run by Karwa and its franchises have turquoise as their body colour, it’s the roof that helps distinguish between the different operators. Taxis of each operator has its own unique colour on the roof.

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