On many of Dushanbe’s main roads, taxis displaying bus route numbers can be seen picking up passengers along fixed routes and charging each rider separately — effectively operating as minibuses rather than as on-demand taxi services.
Residents frequently complain on social media that it has become increasingly difficult to order a taxi through mobile applications. According to taxi operators, most vehicles are occupied, particularly during peak hours in the morning and evening, when people are commuting to and from work.
One reason may be that some taxi drivers, who are licensed to provide passenger transportation on demand, have instead chosen to work along fixed routes. By displaying signs with bus route numbers, they pick up multiple passengers traveling in the same direction and collect fares from each of them.
Most of these unofficial route taxis operate on some of the city’s busiest corridors, connecting residential neighborhoods with central Dushanbe.
An Asia-Plus reporter observed the situation at two locations in the capital — near the Sadbarg shopping center and opposite the National Medical Center Shifobakhsh, commonly known as Qariyai Bolo.
The observations suggest that some taxi drivers have switched to a form of operation that authorities consider illegal, transporting passengers along specific routes marked with route numbers rather than providing standard taxi services.
During just 40 minutes of filming at the two locations, dozens of taxis displaying route numbers 3 and 8 were recorded picking up passengers.
Watch our video report to see how widespread the practice has become.
