Soaring fuel prices batter taxi drivers

On 25 August 2022, the retail price of fuel stood at K2,490 per litre of Octane 92, K2,570 for Octane 95 and K3,055 for diesel.
The prices soared from K1,615 per litre of Octane 92 and K1,970 per litre of diesel recorded on 7 August. The figures showed an increase of K875 per litre and K3,972 per litre of Octane 92.
A taxi uses three gallons per day. The drivers face an additional cost of K12,000 per day, Ko Oo, a taxi driver from North Okkalapa Township told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
Taxi drivers are struggling with the soaring fuel prices. They have to pay the bill to the owners to keep the taxi. When the price is up by K875 per litre in 20 days, their daily income declines by around K10,000, he added.
It is hard for the taxi driver to raise the fare for the passengers as some of the drivers use gas. Meanwhile, other Octane-fueled taxi drivers cannot push the price up, the GNLM quoted U Kyaw Win, a taxi driver from Hlaing Township, as saying.
Gas-fuelled taxi drivers have to pay K16,000 to the owners per day while Octane-fuelled taxi drivers have to pay only K8,000. Although the taxi drivers who use Octane can save K8,000, the fuel price hike causes an extra cost of K25,000 per day, U Kyaw Win, an Octane-fuelled taxi driver continued.
Those who own the taxi need not worry about that bill and they can run the taxi to cover the fuel price.
Therefore, the taxi service hour is quite lower than those of the taxi drivers who do not own the vehicles, said Ko Than Win, an owner of vehicles near Sanpya Cinema.
The Octane taxi drivers are expecting the price not to spike again. — TWA/GNLM