Ride sharing platform, Yango has made its case regarding its suspension and order to regularise, by the Ministry of Transport in Cameroon. The platform in an official statement, February 13, 2023 said contrary to popular claims, it does not fall under the classification of transport operators. “We draw attention to the fact that Yango is an international digital platform operating via a mobile application and therefore is not a transport operator,” the statement read in part.
The platform noted that it had however asked local partners to suspend operations in compliance with the suspension as it seeks “clarifications on the concrete measures” its partners – local transport operators “must follow.
To the Russian-made platform, the Ministry of Transport has failed to understand its model, one it boasts has raised the average revenue growth of businesses by 35%.
Yango’s statement breaks the long silence following the February 07 suspension. Calling on the enterprise to restrain from operating, Transport Minister, Ernest Ngalle Bibehe had said “activities of public transport operated via the Yango digital platform are suspended until they are brought up standard.” Among others, government had asked the platform to create a Cameroon office, declare taxes and provide a terms of service.
The suspension has not gone down well with many who believe it provides a wide range of services which regular taxis fail to. Yango’s activities, to Delor Magellan Kamseu, head of the Cameroonian Consumer League, “guarantee a quality of service highly appreciated by its users. This, is “notably the affordable cost of ride and the safety on board hired cabs,” he told Reuters.
A few hours to the suspension of transport via the Yango platform, the Ministry of announced the institution of new licenses and authorisations for road transportation and auxiliary practices. Announcing the changes, Transport Minister, Ngalle Bibehe Jean Ernest Massena asked stakeholders in general and specifically holders of valid road transport licenses to comply within a maximum period of one year from the 10 October 2022.
Some Licenses/Authoriations Concerned
Going by documents released by the Department of Road Transport at the Ministry of Transport, vehicle rental operation services require a license which costs 15,000 FCFA while those carrying out passenger transport service by tricycle, ought to possess a Special S8 license worth 7,500 FCFA, the same cost for Special S7 licenses for those carrying out freight transport service by tricycle.
The same document placed the cost of S5 license granted for urban and peri-urban passenger transport service by vehicles with a maximum seating capacity of 11 persons at 10,000 FCFA, the same figure for S4 licenses for urban and peri-urban minibus transport services.
Some other license categories include S3 granted for funeral transport service, 7,500 FCFA; S1 for urban bus transport, 15,000 FCFA and the 4th category license for mixed transport services with a gross vehicle weight equal to or less than 3.5 tons, at 15,000 FCFA.
Poise News Desk
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