Taxi operators losing their cars

Taxi operators are losing their cars to banks due to unpaid loans as a result of their inability to operate without insurance coverage.

This month alone, about five to six taxicabs would be repossessed, according to the Saipan City Taxi Association. The group said that taxicab operators failed to make timely payments when they were forced to stop doing business as a result of their insurance coverage lapsing this year.

“We are asking the senators to help us pass the taxi bill because we need to pay all our obligations. Several taxicabs would be repossessed by the banks because of our loans; we could not pay them because we are not in operation,” association president Rabby Syed lamented yesterday.

The group attended the Senate session yesterday to lobby for the passage of House Bill 14-166, which passed the House of Representatives last week.

The Senate leadership tossed the bill back to the Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs.

Of the senators present in yesterday’s session, Sen. Thomas Villagomez opposed the passage of the measure without thorough review. He said he would review first the measure before committing to it. Other senators supported the measure.

Senate President Joaquin Adriano said the bill would be tackled when the Senate meets again next week on Rota.

“Hopefully, we will get the support of the Senate so that we could go on with our business. It has been affecting our families and our obligations,” said Syed.

The group earlier disclosed that by September 2004, all 193 taxicabs operating at the Duty Free Shoppers and around the island would stop operating when the insurance policy of each motor vehicle expires.

To date, 30 percent of the total number of taxicabs has halted operations. According to taxi operators, the remaining 70 percent would stop taxi business by August 2004 due to the continued refusal by various insurance firms in the CNMI to grant them insurance coverage. By August, all taxicabs would be eliminated from Saipan, they said.

The House of Representatives passed last week House Bill 14-166. It amends Public Law 11-55 to provide for the inclusion of taxicab operators in the mandatory automobile insurance coverage provided by insurance providers at the coverage rate set under Public Law 9-29.

The Committee on Commerce and Tourism noted that the Department of Commerce had informed it that insurance providers in the CNMI are no longer writing new coverage for taxicab vehicle policies or renewing expiring policies for taxi vehicles since January 2004.

Syed said the economics of the problem does not stop at the insurance policy issue of each taxi drivers but extends to their families as taxicab operators stop earning money due to their inability to insure their vehicle.

The passage of the measure would also empower the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations regarding assigned risk plan for motor vehicle liability insurance. Also, the lower house stressed the need to address other issues, including drug testing, uniformity of attire, among others.