(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: As part of a national strategy to address traffic jams, the General Directorate of Traffic at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has banned 80 more job categories from getting driving licences.
They are added to the already 150 plus list which includes a number of professions.
'We received the new list last month and we fear it will reduce the number of people seeking new driving licenses. We will come to know about the actual impact, when we compare the current month (September) with previous months”, a source at Al Rayah Driving School told The Peninsula.
He added that the ban is applicable to only company workers and workers under private sponsorship are not included in it.
The job categories that are barred from securing a driving licence include grocer, newspaper vendor, barber, servant, cosmetologist, security guard, porter, shepherd, butcher, tailor, goldsmith, agricultural worker, decoration technician, mining technician, beautician and mechanic etc. The Directorate has banned such jobs from having driving licence saying that it will help reduce traffic congestion.
'These categories don";t require a driving licence since the companies are supposed to provide them with transportation,” the source said.
Officials of driving schools claim there is a decrease in the number of people registering for licences compared to the past year.
'There is more demand for light-vehicle licence compared to heavy-vehicle ones, and generally there is a decrease in demand in both categories — light-vehicle licences by 30 percent and heavy-vehicle licences by 50 percent compared to last year,” said Adel Salem, Manager, Al Rayah Driving School.
Mohammed Al Zain Ibrahim, Executive Manager of Gulf Driving School also said there is a significant decrease in demand for both types of licences, especially heavy-vehicle licences. He said the school is preparing to increase the fees, provided it gets approval from authorities. 'We have not revised fees for the past four years. Now several reasons are forcing us to revise it.”
The Peninsula