According to the association, the government's licensing requirements for taxi drivers mean that they cannot effectively compete with InDrive operators. Drivers must incur costs, including registering the vehicle, which costs P1,800; renewing their license, which costs P600; and maintaining roadworthiness, which costs around P200 every six months.
To level the playing field, the taxi association suggests that InDrive operators must also incur the same charges.
"They must also feel the pinch of being public service operators in Botswana," said a representative of the association.
Although InDrive initially launched in Botswana in 2019, it has garnered popularity over the last two years as commuters see it as a viable alternative to what they see as predatory practices by taxi operators. Some of these include high charges and lack of convenience, which are pain points that InDrive addresses. Since then, two more e-hailing platforms-Yango and Bolt- have also joined the Botswana market.
In 2023 after the association called for the ban of InDrive, InDrive said the country does not have any regulations regarding e-hailing platforms and when those suffice, it would be happy to abide by them.
In neighbouring South Africa, after years of unsuccessfully fighting e-hailing services like Uber, Bolt and InDrive, the South Africa Taxi Council (SANTACO) ended up launching its own e-hailing services to compete in the market.