Zomba City Council (ZCC) has announced a new measure on taxi rank fees collection as one way of improving revenue collection and ensuring compliance among transport operators.
According to a notice signed by ZCC Chief Executive Officer, Archangel Bakolo, the new system will take effect from 1st April 2026.
Under the new arrangement, the Council will stop collecting rank fees directly at designated ranks but will instead be collecting through Council checkpoints established along the M3 Road in the city.
“The checkpoints will be located at St Joseph Primary School for those heading towards 3 Miles and at YONECO for those heading to Chinamwali.
“The directive is intended to ensure that all taxi operators contribute to Council revenue which include those who avoid operating from designated ranks,” reads the statement in part.
ZCC Public Relations Officer, Aubrey Moses, said taxi operators on the Mpunga route and taxis going to Lilongwe will pay their revenue at their designated ranks.
“Currently, we have excluded Lilongwe ranks because those taxis leave very early in the morning, making it difficult for our officers to be on the ground. However, we are working with taxi leaders to ensure that revenue is collected. Mpunga taxis that operate on a route that does not pass through the council’s checkpoints will pay their fees at their ranks,” he said.
Moses added that the Council has not yet made projections on how much revenue will be generated under the new system, but taxi operators will be required to pay K500 at the checkpoints.
Meanwhile, the Council has called on Zomba Transporters Union and other rank leaders to inform their members about the changes and help enforce the directive.
The Council has, therefore, expressed hope that the new system will strengthen revenue collection and improve regulation of taxi operation in the city as it expects full cooperation from all operators when the directive comes into effect.
