Fiji Taxi Association hopes 20 cents per litre duty on fuel is reduced

The Fiji Taxi Association says they are hoping that the 20 cents per litre duty on fuel is reduced in the 2021-2022 National Budget as fuel prices have gone up by about 50 cents a litre in the past 6 months.

Association General Secretary, Ashwin Lal says the taxi industry is in a very bad state right now as people are scared of the COVID-19 virus and are not travelling in taxis.

He says taxi operators could get some relief if the duty on fuel is reduced.

Lal is also hoping that the review of fuel prices is done on a quarterly basis and not on a monthly basis as is currently being done.

He has also highlighted that the Association has had discussions with the Minister for Economy and have made suggestions to remove import duty on vehicles, vehicle parts and accessories and tyres.

The Government in the 2020-2021 National Budget had reduced the import duty by 75% on hybrid cars and non-hybrid cars and reduced fiscal duty from 15% to 5% on new cars. Excise duty was also removed on all non-hybrid cars.

The Association Secretary says another issue being faced by the taxi industry is that many people are using their private vehiclesand are operating illegal taxi businesses.

He says they have made suggestions to the Government to deregister vehicles and implement heavy fines on vehicles that are operating illegally as a taxi.

Lal is also urging people to get vaccinated and says they should not believe in rumours about the vaccine causing magnetism.

The 2021-2022 National Budget will be announced on 16th July at 7.30pm.