Beginning on Monday morning, taking a ride on a taxi in Israel will be significantly more expensive. Last Thursday, a new by-law took effect according to which taxi prices will rise beginning on Monday throughout the country by 4.2 percent.

The starting tariff will now begin at 12 NIS as opposed to the previous 11.5 NIS and the meter rate will tick faster by more than 25 percent. The night time tariff will remain the same. For intra-city travel, with set rates that do not use a meter, the rates will rise to reflect the meter rise as well.

Taxi companies have told their drivers that they will be able to change over their meters at any branch of Kopunit and Monitex. According to reports in Israeli media it will be a lengthy process and likely not all drivers will change over their meters on Monday itself.

Matzi Shabtai, Director of Israel’s Taxi Driver Union told Ynet that: “While the price hike will be hard for commuters, the government has ways in which it could have prevented the hike. One such method would have been lowering the price our mandatory insurance from 12,000 NIS per year to something more manageable. But the government wants to get their piece of the pie as well. We have a report that illustrates how taxi drivers are barely making minimum wage. Thus, the price hike.”

It is expected that in April 2019 a taxi reform will come into affect that will lower the starting price of a taxi to 10.40 NIS. However the tick rate of the meter will then increase as well.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)