After a long time, The Cabinet chaired by President Yoweri Museveni, has approved the levying and collection of park user fees on passenger service vehicles (PSVs), which is likely to see transporters increase travel fees.
The new development arrived at on Monday by Cabinet means each taxi will pay Shs840, 000 per annum to be shared by the original/destination local government and KCCA in the ration of 60: 40 respectively.
Taxis operating between two urban authorities are to pay Shs840, 000 which shall be shared in the ration of 60:40 percent for original loading and destination local government respectively.
Commuter taxis in Kampala will pay Shs720, 000 per year while bus operators will pay Shs2.4 million which shall be shared equally among urban authorities on the route charts.
The purpose of the above levies, according to Cabinet, is to harmonise the system between KCCA and other local governments.
It is also meant to stop multiple taxation and daily levies on taxis and provide for a single annual payment as well as to stop the use of agents in the collection of the park use fees from taxi operators.
With the new changes, the public will have to wait to see if taxi and bus operators will increase transport fares. Currently commuter taxis around Kampala charge between Shs500 to Shs3000 per trip depending on the distance from the city centre. Bus operators playing upcountry routes charge between Shs 8000-Shs50, 000 per trip depending on the journey.
Initially Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) was the body responsible for the day to day operation of taxis around Kampala city but these were later kicked out as KCCA resolved to take over taxi operations and management in 2013. According to officials at KCCA, that was done to reinstate order in the business and most importantly bring back the revenue that government was losing during days of UTODA.
“KCCA owns the taxi terminals in Kampala; UTODA had claimed to have had a running contract with KCC before we came in. On further scrutiny there was no documentation to confirm these claims so subsequently, court ordered UTODA out and asked KCCA to take over. They were supposed to be remitting Shs 392 million every month but that money was not coming.
The new taxes come at the time when the price of fuel in the country is rising, with some fuel pumps selling it at over Shs4000.
Meanwhile Cabinet yesterday also directed the Ministry of Finance to release approximately Shs32.8 billion from the Contingency Fund for the emergency resettlement of persons at risk in the Bulambuli government land. The recent Bududa landslides killed over 40 people, leaving several families homeless. Government expects to resettle them in Bulambuli.