Santaco launched a cashless system for taxi operators and scholar transport.
This cashless system is in partnership with Ecentric payment system, ForUs digital Group and others.
The Wealth on Wheels system will also include GPS tracking and live camera monitoring.
If all goes according to plan, the cashless system will be up and running by January next year for scholar transport.
The taxis will then follow. This means, no more tapping on the co-passengers’ shoulders to pass the cash to the conductor or driver, as commuters will be using cards to pay.
Learners will have tags to monitor their movement to and from school. Santaco chairperson in the Eastern Cape, Zola Yolelo says the taxi formalisation program is part of the future.
“This program will benefit the commuters. The cashless system is advisable that the commuters must appreciate it because the use of cash is carrying an element of crime. If our commuters can appreciate this system they will be more safer than ever. Secondly, we are trying to digitalize the industry now. We are getting to the steps of the fourth industrial revolution. So this program is part of the taxi formalisation.”
This initiative have the potential to boost the economy. The CEO of Ecentric Payment, Hassen Sheik, says this program also seeks to improve commuter safety.
“We are going be degitizing and digitalizing an industry that nobody had thought would ever be on this par. We are going to create a micro economy within the taxi industry and enable them to do what the big retailers can do and turn their taxis into a commercial business unit. That’s really the plan and that’s the vision and that’s why we’re here.”
“What we gonna do in terms of implementation: each taxi is gonna have a forward-facing camera so we can see what’s going on on the road and a backward-facing camera so that we can see what the driver is doing and what the customers inside the taxi are doing and how safe they are.”
This new addition was welcomed by taxi owners like Mpumelelo Nokhwintsa, who is a participating member.
“We support this initiative in the sense that it’s going to support us as the owners of the taxi in the loss of cash also it’s going to help the passengers in the loss of their parcels. Other things we are going to see as the times goes on, but we support it.”
Taxi drivers, like Sibulele Ngati believes the system will play a huge role in ensuring their safety.
“This will be very helpful to us as taxi drivers in terms of carrying money because we usually become victims of criminals as they think we have money. Secondly, I heard that we will be paid via bank accounts, not the way they paid us using envelops. We could not even make home or vehicle loans. Now we can do all those things becaused our money will be deposited directly into our bank accounts.”
From early next year taxi commuters, will be using the cashless system, Wealth on Wheels.
