Taxi Pricing: Increase in AED with gas exceeding AED 16

Large taxi professionals in a number of Moroccan cities, most notably Rabat, Casablanca and Beni Mellal, are considering approving an increase in the price of transportation by one dirham, after the price of gas at Moroccan gas stations exceeded the threshold of 16 dirhams per liter. Large and small taxi professionals held an organizational meeting on Wednesday to discuss the decision and open channels of communication with state authorities about it, at a time when consumer protection associations warn that any extrajudicial increase remains illegal. An additional dirham requirement in Several cities, Muhammad al-Sharah, secretary of one of the large taxi stations in Rabat and affiliated with the General Union of Workers Syndicate, revealed that professionals have been studying for days the idea of increasing the price by one dirham, explaining that the expected increase may include the lines linking Bab Shala and the neighborhoods of Progress, Renaissance and Youssoufia, and may extend to the transport lines in the direction of Salé. The commentators justified this trend by the "suffocating material suffering" experienced by drivers as a result of the high cost of fuel, pointing out that some of them do not return to their families except by forty Pure Dhs after a hard day's work. He added that the state of congestion also includes Casablanca, Berchid and Beni Mellal, where drivers organized stoppages to protest the situation. "Any increase without the worker's decision is illegal," Bouazza Kharati, a representative of the Moroccan University for Consumer Rights, confirmed that the urban transport sector is regulated and does not accept any increase except by a decision issued by the regional worker, warning that any violation of this framework remains illegal. Al-Kharati called on the new government to intervene urgently to roof fuel prices Based on Law No. 104.12, or by reviewing the Finance Law to reduce the internal tax on consumption, they proposed a reduction of one dirham from the prices of gasoline and gasoline as an urgent solution. For his part, Boujamaa Mouji, Vice-President of the Consumer Protection Association in Casablanca, stressed the need to subject any new pricing to reasonable standards and strict control, rejecting the "randomness" resorted to by some drivers in imposing the tariff. Government support related to the trend of fuel prices This controversy comes at a time when the government continues to disburse direct support It is exceptional for road transport professionals through the "Keep Up with Transport" electronic platform, which was launched by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics to confront the international rise in fuel prices, knowing that the government previously linked the end of this support to the decline in prices globally. The controversy is also exacerbated in the context of the decline of the Moroccan dirham against the euro and the dollar , which raises the cost of importing fuel in the near term, at a time when purchasing power represents the first real test waiting for the next government before discussing the 2028 budget. On the ground, the results of the organizational meeting have not yet been decided, as any actual increase remains subject to the approval of the economic departments with workers. In the meantime, citizens and students in Beni Mellal fear that the cost of daily commuting will turn into an additional burden on their budgets amid the continued high cost of living.