5 Rules for Women Taxi Drivers in Saudi Arabia

From June 2018, the women will be allowed to drive in the Kingdom for the very first time in the nation’s history. We all know that this step was announced last year which was a part of reforms aimed to modernize the ultraconservative Kingdom.

However, the ban losing is near and the officials are busy to manage the driving rules for females. With the time nearing, the Public Transport Authority has also issued some bylaws for family transportation services that will be offered by women in the Kingdom.

However, it is also reported that this new law came after the public transportation services started training their female drivers to offer Chauffer service in the Kingdom. The presence of the female drivers will stand helpful for female passengers who refuse or hesitate male drivers.

A few months ago, Saudi Arabia PTA’s spokesman, Abdullah Al-Muatiri said the rules and regulations prepared for female drivers will not be much different from male drivers.

The Public Transport Authority of Saudi Arabia (PTA) issued a statement that all family transportation service providers must fulfill three conditions before issuing female driver services.

01-First of all the female taxi driver must be Saudi national and should have a proper driving license. She should be free from all contagious diseases and her name should not be included in any criminal record. SR 5,000 fine will be imposed if the driver of the chauffeur service is a non-Saudi woman.

02-The Saudi female drivers of Family transport service should only provide their service in the city from where their license is issued and if they are caught violating this law, a heavy fine of SR5,000 will be imposed on her.

03-Saudi female drivers should refrain from providing service to the only male passengers. It is compulsory for her to provide her service to only females or families or there should be an adult female passenger along with the male passenger.

If she violates this law and carries only male passengers she will have to pay a fine of SR 5,000.

04-Saudi female drivers should only allow the women to sit in the front seat of the car. If she is caught with a child or a male passenger sitting in front seat SR 2,000 fine will incur.

05-Beside all these rules and regulations, other requirements that added in the bylaws are the type of vehicle used in transportation services. Following are the conditions stipulated for the vehicle:

A-The vehicle which is to be used for transporting families must be seven-seater.

B-The vehicle should be efficient and proper air-conditioned.

C-Its color and appearance must fit the basic requirements.

D-The vehicle should not be more than five years old.

F-There should be an identification screen fit in it.

G-The vehicle should possess an electronic point-of-sale machine for accepting payments from its customers.

The family transportation services in the Kingdom have announced to hire nearly10,000 of female drivers which will lead to a sharp fall in demand for other drives who would traditionally be hired by families to transport children and women.