Doha, May 27 (QNA) - The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has conducted inspection campaigns in lockstep with the Ministry of Interior's relevant departments to verify that companies offering pre-scheduled passenger transport services have duly secured the necessary legal licenses from MoT, along with their adherence to all statutory rules laid down in the law and its executive regulation.

Throughout these inspections, one of the companies was intercepted. It was operating passenger transport services via online applications without having secured the requisite prior authorization from MoT, the ministry highlighted.

The ministry added that it had cracked down on 11 infractions on the part of licensed limousine company drivers, along with 13 violations issued to individuals operating unlicensed passenger transport using private vehicles, in contravention of the provisions of Law No. 8 of 2019 regulating land transport and its executive regulations.

Conducted during the first quarter of 2025, these campaigns resulted in the detection of 66 infractions committed by licensed limousine companies engaged in passenger transport services via online applications, the ministry said.

The ministry unequivocally emphasized that it would embark on enforcing the laws and legislations issued against the non-compliant companies. It called upon passenger transport companies to abide by the enforced laws with respect to the utilization of online applications and to obtain prior licenses from the ministry to operate the transportation services across the nation and to avoid the violations outlined in the aforementioned law.

In addition, the ministry stressed its keenness to ensure companies that engage in passenger transport via online applications are committed to safety standards, as well as the conditions set out in this law and its executive regulations issued under MoT's Decision No. 13 of 2024.

The bottom line is to ensure the highest standards of service delivered by duly licensed companies within a fair competitive environment, the ministry stressed, asserting that it will crack down on unlicensed companies and subject them to maximum penalties as stipulated in the aforementioned law. (QNA)