After just about six days since the mandatory use of smart for commercial motorcycle operators (taxi motos) started in Kigali, government has suspended it temporarily to iron out discrepancies that had arisen.

Speaking to The New Times, Ernest Nsabimana, the Director General of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) said that effective January 14, the inspection and mandatory use of metres were suspended for a week.

Nsabimana said that this one of the outcomes of a meeting they had with the riders and other stakeholders, following an uproar by some riders who cited a number of challenges they are facing.

"From the meeting we had last night we found out that riders have various challenges such as mismanagement in their cooperatives and insurance charges which they say are high,” he said adding that the issue is therefore not just about the metres.

According to Nsabimana, there is also a challenge in Kigali where there are about 7,000 riders who work illegally.

Asked about the way forward, he said during this week they are going to focus on those who work illegally and later on enforce the mandatory use of metres.

He added that another resolution from the meeting was to reduce the penalty for those who will breach the use of metres, once the enforcement begins.

The penalty will reduce from Rwf25,000 to Rwf10,000.

"Also other institutions involved such as Rwanda Cooperative Association (RCA) will work with the riders to find a long term solution to the issue of mismanaging their federation. Clearly, the challenge is not just the smart metres. There are many other underlying issues,” he added.

Asked about the new fare structure which has attracted complaints from both passengers and taxi moto operators, Nsabimana said that they considered all aspect in coming up with the prices.

He however said that whenever it will be necessary, they will revise them.

The new pricing model according to many who spoke to The New Times, is seen as being too harsh on passengers taking a long rides and more lenient for those taking short ones, and vice versa.

Since January 7, commercial motorcycle riders in the city of Kigali were expected to have smart meters to determine how much a client pays, in addition to facilitating digital payments.

The move was aimed at continuing to push for the reduction of cash-based payments, in a bid to adopt digital payments and to modernize the taxi-moto sector.

When contacted, Jean Bosco Harelimana, the Director-General of RCA said that they are aware of issues raised by the riders with their cooperatives and they are working on it.

However, he added that they also have an issue of riders who never participate in meetings of their cooperatives and later cry foul.

"Those who usually follow cooperatives’ programmes get time to discuss accountability of their contributions,” he said urging members to actively participate in their cooperatives activities.

Harelimana said that members have the right to elect the leadership of their cooperatives in case those managing them fail to account.

Another issue raised is high insurance charges and The New Times has learned that the annual premiums increased from Rwf61,666 to Rwf153,280 for a motorcycle that was manufactured five years ago or less.

Motorcycles that were manufactured six to 10-years-ago pay Rwf166,220, up from Rwf61,666 while those that are above 10 years pay Rwf180,160.

However, by press time Rwanda Insurers Association (ASSAR) had not yet responded to our inquiries regarding this issue.

Meanwhile, the installation of meters is still ongoing during this week of raising awareness on the use and importance of meters while institutions and riders fix all raised issues.

Riders speak out

A number of Kigali-based riders protested on January 13 in Nyarugenge District raising their issues and calling for government solutions.

Riders were protesting claiming that the price of insurance is high and smart meters fares are not fair among other challenges.

In the interview with The New Times Jean Claude Niyonkuru, a motor rider in Gasabo District said that they used protesting in order to be heard because their voices were never heard before but from yesterday they are looking forwards to changes.

Adding that they are ready to cooperate and accept changes whenever it will be necessary so that they can keep doing their everyday job happily.

Chretien Mwami, another rider, said that they are not against the meters; the challenge is the price of them compared to their expenses.

Adding that another big issue they experience is the hiking of insurance and monopoly in that sector.

"The accepted insurance is Radiant insurance something we consider as violating our right we don’t know who is in charge of it but it’s unfair for us to have only one choice” he added

Currently, in Kigali City, there are around 26,000 motor riders However, RURA registered only 19, 300 riders who work legally.