Highlights
- Ex-gratia payment of $4300, 12-month annual accreditation fee waiver for metropolitan taxi operators in South Australia
- Taxi drivers say they may not be eligible for this financial support
- Taxi business sees worst-ever financial setback due to coronavirus, say insiders
A media release on April 10 by Stephan Knoll, South Australia’s Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government stated that over 1000 taxi operators in the state’s metropolitan areas will “immediately” get an ex-gratia payment of $4300 per taxi along with a 12-month waiver of the annual accreditation and vehicle fees that exceeds $500.
Backed by the state’s Business and Jobs Support Fund, this financial support package has met with mixed reactions from those in South Australia’s taxi business.
‘Government's relief measure is welcome’
Triman Gill, president of United Taxi Association South Australia says that there is a lack of clarity about the government’s announcement yet.
“South Australia’s taxi business has registered a loss of 70 per cent due to the coronavirus. A business can remain afloat in crisis only if it gets relief in its fixed cost. It appears, this financial support of $4300 ex-gratia is available only to the owner-operator of a taxi,” asks Mr Gill.
So where does that leave the drivers who actually drive not only the taxi but also the business?
Emphasising the confusion amongst his ilk, he wonders whether drivers have to turn to the federal government’s Job Seeker or Job Keeper allowances.
‘We are broke’
Amrik Singh Thandi, has been a taxi driver in Adelaide for the last 36 years.
He says he has never seen the taxi business suffer a worse slump.
“In my lifetime, I haven’t seen our industry fall on such bad times. Even the arrival of rideshare services like Uber didn’t impact us so badly,” says Mr Thandi who also tried his luck in local politics as an independent candidate.
“I’m down from nine taxis to four. My drivers are terrified and homebound. Their families have insisted them to not drive because many taxi drivers who picked up passengers from Adelaide airport, may have also picked up the coronavirus,” he adds.
Amrik Singh Thandi Source: Supplied
However, Mr Thandi welcomes the government’s financial support.
“I’d like to thank the government for this relief package. They thought of us. The ex-gratia payment of $4300 isn’t much if business remains poor for six months but we are broke, in a way,” he says thoughtfully.
‘Government needs to think about taxi drivers’
Deepak Bhardwaj, a taxi driver-turner social worker is often seen voicing his concerns about South Australia’s taxi industry.
He feels the state government has not given much thought to the drivers of taxis.
“This grant is a relief but only for owner-operators of taxis. Drivers have got nothing because they are either on student or temporary visas and hence not eligible for the federal government’s Job Seeker or Job Keeper allowances,” says Mr Bhardwaj.
Highlighting the plight of Australia’s taxi drivers, a large number of whom are newly-arrived Indian migrants, he explains how surviving the coronavirus financial crisis may overpower their survival in a foreign land.
Deepak Bhardwaj Source: Supplied
“Our community can support financially-weak taxi drivers with food but they need to pay their university fees too, which they earn by driving. Where will they turn to for that support,” he asks.
‘Taxi owners, operators must support drivers’
To underscore the stress prevalent amongst the state’s taxi drivers, Mr Bhardwaj refers to a message he received from Gurpreet Singh Minhas, a taxi driver in Adelaide.
Mr Minhas sent this message in a Whatsapp group comprising the state’s taxi drivers, in which he reacted to the South Australian government’s announcement of the $5.2 million financial support to their industry.
“Taxi drivers are mostly on temporary visas and not eligible for Job Seeker or Job Keeper payments. We suggest taxi owners to come forward and share the financial support received from the state government and distribute it appropriately amongst taxi drivers who can't get benefits from the government,” wrote Mr Minhas.
He stressed, “we all must acknowledge that drivers are backbone of the taxi industry and should get their due share.”
‘Most stakeholders left out in the cold’
A statement released by Taxi Council South Australia (TCSA) underscores that it is the taxi operators who will “greatly appreciate” this support from the state government.
The council raises questions about the fate of the other stakeholders in the state’s taxi industry.
According to the statement, TCSA fears the government’s grant “may leave out in the cold” licence owners who lease their registration plates to operators, drivers who drive taxis and booking agencies who connect passengers and taxis.
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