Decision for 2,500 new taxis approved, license plate prices plummet: How much are taxi license plate fees in Istanbul?

An important decision was made last week to address Istanbul's taxi problem.

The Application-Based Taxi Transportation System, which was also supported by the Ministry of Transport, was approved at the UKOME meeting.

Accordingly, 2,500 new taxis will enter Istanbul traffic.

So, how has the arrival of new taxis affected existing taxi license plates? CNBC-e's Ahmet Bal reported the noteworthy news on this matter.

Following the decision to tender new taxi license plates, a decline has been observed in the prices of existing taxi plates.

The prices of three taxi license plate sellers, which have been monitored since April 1, have reached their lowest nominal levels in recent months following the UKOME meeting.

On April 1, the prices of the three plates listed were 7 million TL, 6.60 million TL, and 6.52 million TL, respectively. Before the UKOME meeting, the prices of these plates were listed (in the same order) as 6.1 million, 6.1 million, and 6 million TL.

Following the UKOME meeting, the prices of the taxis in question dropped to 5.75 million lira, 5.75 million lira, and 5.7 million lira. In other words, prices fell by approximately 6 percent after the meeting. When the same comparison is made with the date of April 1, it is observed that the decline in prices is at the level of 15 percent.

A taxi plate seller reached by CNBC-e reported that prices in their systems have fallen to 5.45 million TL.

The seller, who requested anonymity, stated that the value of a taxi plate should be 10 million lira, adding, "Interest rates are high, and there are no citizens left in the market investing in plates. Normally, the value of this plate should be 10 million TL. The rent for this plate is 28 thousand TL."

HOW WILL THE NEW SYSTEM WORK?

The Application-Based Taxi Transportation System was voted on at the UKOME meeting. Application-based taxis will not have roof lights. They will only pick up passengers through the application and taxi stands integrated into the system.

The vehicles are planned to have security partitions. In the first phase, 2,500 taxi licenses will be included in this system. These licenses will not be selected from existing ones. Following the UKOME decision, a tender will be held for the taxi licenses.