Casablanca taxi drivers distance themselves from confrontations with app-based drivers

Casablanca taxi drivers have rejected recent confrontations involving drivers who provide transportation services through smartphone applications, saying such actions are damaging the reputation of the profession and creating a negative image of the sector.

The issue has fueled growing frustration among taxi professionals who oppose attempts to disrupt the work of app-based drivers.

Some taxi drivers say the incidents are hurting their relationship with customers and could push more passengers toward alternative forms of transportation.

Taxi representatives criticize confrontations

While some taxi drivers have openly criticized the incidents, others have declined to speak publicly, reportedly out of concern that they could lose their jobs or face pressure from owners of taxi licenses, commonly known as “grima” holders.

The Casablanca regional office of taxi drivers, affiliated with the Democratic Transport Union, has also spoken out against the incidents.

The union criticized what it described as the “negative image” created by some protests and actions involving a limited number of people working in the sector.

Speaking to Hespress Arabic, Samir Frabi, the union’s regional secretary, said the behavior of some taxi drivers in public spaces is damaging the reputation of the profession as a whole.

He pointed to incidents involving the interception of drivers working through transportation applications, attempts to force them toward protest sites and confrontations between the two sides.

Frabi stressed that such actions do not represent the thousands of taxi drivers working across Casablanca and said the entire profession should not be judged based on the behavior of a small group.

Confrontations could drive customers away

Frabi warned that the confrontations could ultimately cost traditional taxis customers.

He said some passengers have begun turning to other forms of transportation, including app-based services, because of the negative image created by the incidents.

Professional taxi drivers who respect their customers are ultimately the ones affected by such actions, he argued, despite having no involvement in them.

Seddik Boujaara, a Casablanca taxi sector representative and president of the Road Transport Trade Union, also said the recent protests should not be viewed as representative of the entire sector.

Boujaara said the debate is sometimes framed as though Moroccan taxi drivers as a whole oppose transportation applications, but argued that the reality is more complex.

He said many of the protests circulating on social media are organized or promoted by a small, independent group.

Their strong presence online, Boujaara said, can create the impression that the entire taxi sector is constantly protesting against app-based transportation services.

That, he argued, does not reflect the position of all taxi drivers, many of whom are not involved in the protests.

The dispute highlights the growing tension between traditional taxi services and app-based transportation in Casablanca. But some taxi-sector representatives are warning that confrontations and disruptive actions could have the opposite of their intended effect by driving more customers toward digital transportation services.