Kampala Capital City Authority has issued new guidelines on the collection of taxi park revenues, a day after court dismissed the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association application to block KCCA from taking over city taxi parks.
On Monday, Kampala High court Justice Eldad Mwanguhya dismissed the petition on grounds that it was not proper before court.
Speaking to the media at City Hall on Tuesday, Jennifer Ssemakula Musisi, the KCCA executive director said that under the new guidelines the city authority has started applying direct revenue collections from the taxi operators in the city.
Musisi also said no more collection of cash fees shall be encouraged in the taxi parks and KCCA shall give a grace period of two weeks each month to the drivers.
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Phoebe Lutaaya Kamya, the director in charge of revenue says each taxi is supposed to pay a total of 155,000 shillings per month. She says the total includes the sum of the daily 4500 shillings and the monthly fee of 20,000 shillings.
She explained that each taxi operator is to register his vehicle and deposit the money in any of the six KCCA bank accounts in Stanbic, Standard Charted, Orient, Housing Finance and Baroda banks.
She added that starting this Wednesday other collection centers shall be opened at the divisional headquarters as a way of bringing the services closer to the taxi operators.
In a separate press briefing, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago maintained that UTODA contract with KCCA had already expired and they have been operating on illegalities.
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Lukwago however noted that that the sum of money to be charged on the drivers would be decided by an authority meeting.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hajji Musa Katongole, the UTODA chairman held a meeting with over 100 UTODA employees and told them he had done his part by appealing against the ruling.
He said that the court ruling did not automatically cancel their contract with KCCA which he insisted ends in 2014.
When Uganda Radio Network visited the Old Taxi Park and Cooper Complex, some drivers had already started picking the bank pay slips from the KCCA enforcement officers.
Joseph Ssematte, a driver at the Muyenga stage was one of the drivers seen with a copy of the pay slips. Ssematte said is hopeful that KCCA would reduce on the figures.
He said the drivers are interested in a fresh start after Utoda.
