Chetumal, Q.R. — Chetumal taxi drivers are moving forward with their request for a rate increase. The unionized drivers say they cannot make ends meet with the fares they currently charge.
However, fare increases need to be approved by the Instituto de Movilidad de Quintana Roo (IMOVEQROO). On Tuesday, a group of Sindicato Único de Choferes de Automóviles de Alquiler (Suchaa) drivers officially filed their rate increase request.
Suchaa union leader Julio César Castilla, said there is a protest possibility if the drivers are not granted the requested rate increase.
Castilla Zapata explained that they are asking for a five peso price increase in fares, “to meet the increases in gasoline and spare parts,” which he detailed in the mandatory feasibility study he delivered Tuesday.
He has also requested a meeting with Inmoveqroo “since it is the power of the government body to carry out a review of the rates in the third half of the year so that in the last quarter, we are given an answer.
“We are requesting again that they authorize an increase in rates since it is now impossible for us to continue with the same prices while gasoline is more expensive every day as well as tires and vehicle maintenance and repair services, which is what has caused a considerable decrease in the income of taxi drivers by up to 60 percent,” he said.
Chetumal taxi drivers have had only a one-peso rate hike approved since 2019. Last year, Imoveqroo approved a one peso rate increase to the unionized city taxi drivers.