Al Million Services and Contracting Company will launch its first fleet of cabs in Qatar within the next four months, company officials have said.

The private company will be joined by two others in 2013. All have been awarded five-year contracts to operate up to 500 taxis each in Qatar, as part of what state-owned Mowasalat said is a bid to introduce competition into the transportation sector.

But it is unclear how that will work, given that the new cabs must follow the same fare structure and service standards as traditional Karwas, according to media reports.

Al Million’s new taxis will also be aqua-colored and branded with Karwa logos, but sport maroon-colored roofs to distinguish themselves from existing taxis on the road.

The Peninsula reports:

“We are planning to start with a few cabs initially which will be expanded to 300 and then to 500 in a phased manner. We will try to limit the waiting time for our taxis to 10 to 15 minutes after a request is made through our call centre,” said Abdul Khader Mydeen, Managing Director of Al Million…

The companies are required to set up their own call centres, workshops and other facilities. The new taxis will be free to operate in all areas across the country except the Doha International Airport that will be reserved for the Karwa taxis and limousines.

With so many more taxis on the road, at least wait times will be less. But the competition part certainly sounds fishy.

Any thoughts on this?