Taxi bosses gridlocked over finance

Taxi owners, who claim they are being ripped off by vehicle finance and insurance companies, are looking for a parallel model to help the industry overcome financial problems.

The decision comes after taxi owners brought major roads in Johannesburg to a standstill on Friday, demanding better terms for taxi-vehicle finance.

Disgruntled taxi owners and various taxi associations say they are paying up to 28% interest on loans from some finance houses.

The industry has threatened a national shutdown if the existing finance model is not changed.

"The taxi industry's ambition is to own its value chain, such as owning our finance companies. We want to have ownership in a vehicle, insurance and tracking device company.

"We need to partner people who are already doing it so that you can get better prices for taxi operators and build some capital to then establish your own overtime," said Thulani Qwabe, chief operating officer of Taxi Choice, the SA National Taxi Council's business wing.

Taxi owners rejected the SA Taxi Finance's proposed 3% drop in interest rates last week.