Tbilisi to Have White Taxis from 2019
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, September 27
All taxis will have to be of white color in Tbilisi from October 2019. The information was released by Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze on September 26 at the City Hall sitting.
“We are working on visual standards that will be mandatory from October 1, 2019. We have had a lot of discussions about the color. We have decided that the white color will be mandatory for the taxis,” Kaladze stated.
He also added that providing a taxi service with three-door and right-hand-drive vehicles will be prohibited from October 1, 2019.
Beginning October 2019, three-door vehicles, as well as right-hand-drive vehicles, will not be allowed to provide this service,” the mayor said.
Kaladze also mentioned the mandatory registration of taxis, which is underway now and obliges all taxi drivers to undergo registration until November 1.
The Mayor underlined that drivers who do not register will be fined by GEL 200.
“More than 6, 200 licenses have been issued. Providing the service without a license will be prohibited beginning October 1, he added.
Head of Georgian Transport and Road Association, Davit Meskhishvili, does not approve the initiated changes by the mayor. He says that changing the color of the taxis costs around 1000-1500 GEL and this and other expenses the drivers face will increase the taxi service fees.
“This reform will bring nothing positive. The main problem is that the cars should be technically fit and the color does not mean anything. The only thing that will change is that we, the passengers will have to pay more,” Meskhishvili stressed.
The mandatory registration of taxis in the capital of Georgia, announced by Tbilisi Mayor in January, started on August 1.
Tbilisi City Hall says that a taxi service permit can be obtained by any person who has a driver's license and wants to get paid in exchange for transporting passengers. The driver should have a vehicle which has no more than 8 seats, not including the driver’s seat.
Drivers need to fill in the online application at www.taxi.tbilisi.gov.ge and then pay a one-year permit fee of 50 GEL for hybrid vehicles, 100 GEL for ordinary cars. There is no charge for electric vehicles.
