[File Photo]

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission is calling for more submissions on the proposed taxi fare increase.

Chief Executive, Joel Abraham, says they’ve only received 53 submissions, which does not account for even one percent of the industry.

He says in light of the global crisis, they did provide interim relief to taxi operators last July, but they are waiting for more submissions to make a final decision.

Abraham says the FCCC will make the final decision once all the requirements are met.

“That includes a process where the taxi industry is required to provide submissions; they are required to provide their financials; we are not asking them to go and get fancy audited financial statements. What we have said is whatever you submit to FRCS on an annual basis, the renewal of your permits historically, whatever the record-keeping that you do as is customary for a business, we want to cite those records.”

Abraham says they are also monitoring unethical practices in the taxi industry.

“We do note that there are some practices within the industry that we have been alerted to, including the building up of costs that may or may not be legitimate. We are quite keen on scrutinizing those costs to ensure that the Fijian public don’t get unnecessary burden by the artificial cost that have been put in place.”

Taxi operators are being urged to make their submissions now.

Currently, the flag-fall charge is $2 between 6am and 9pm in Viti Levu and $2.30 for locations outside of Viti Levu, and the waiting charge is 18 cents per minute.