By Mohammed Shoeb
DOHA: Some leading driving schools in Qatar are calling for an increase in their fees to “adjust with their rising overheads and falling profit margins” citing several, including the recent hike in fuel prices and higher rentals for housing.
Most of the driving schools The Peninsula spoke to said that the rising costs for housing and fuels, which constitute a significant portion of their monthly variable costs are adversely impacting their businesses.
“We have not increased our fees for more than two years, but due to some recent developments expanses have increased further and things are becoming increasingly difficult to manage,” said Mohammed Al Zain Ibrahim, Executive Manager of Gulf Driving School.
Ibrahim added: “It’s not only about higher fuel prices. Even the rents of accommodation facilities that we take on lease for housing our staff and prices of spare parts and maintenance costs of vehicles have gone up significantly.”
He said that finding qualified trainers with valid GCC license has also become difficult as the authorities have made rules more stringent.
He explained that according to the new rules a trainer must have earned a Senior Secondary School Certificate (12th pass), and she/he is also required to go through driving and signal tests irrespective of the years of driving experience. This is mandatory for even for drivers having GCC license, except for GCC nationals.
“We are required to spend more money to meet the growing standards. First of all it is not very easy to find a driver with the given qualification. And those who meet these conditions expect higher compensation,” said Ibrahim.
Yet another official of a separate driving school lauded similar concerns. He added: “It takes about QR10,000 to recruit a driver, including the ticket fare and other expanses.”
Some driving schools, as part of their cost cutting drive, has stopped providing complementary pick-and-drop services to trainees.
However, a senior official at Karwa Driving School said that the recent petrol price hike would have very marginal impact on profits , may be less than 2 percent, as fuel bills do not constitute a big portion of monthly expenses. Thus ruled out the possibility of any fee hike in the near future.
“Our revised fee was implemented last December which is still lower than our competitors. We charge about QR 3,200 (automatic gear) QR3,900 (manual gear) for full course,” said the official requesting anonymity.
Currently most of the driving schools in Qatar are charging about QR3,400 for a full course (light motor vehicles) which is about 30 percent higher compared to QR2,400 charged about a couple of years ago.
Some driving schools are also offering “fast track” courses charging between QR4,500 and QR5,000 varying from school to school.
But customers have a different story to narrate. They say that running a driving school is one of the most lucrative businesses in Qatar. Most of the schools are flooded with customers, and one has to wait for several months after registration for practical classes.
“Taking advantage of the long waiting time, some driving schools have even started fast track courses minting extra money. I took one full course and fail to obtain a license. So this is my second course. In total I have spent about QR11,000, an amount equivalent to the price of a car in India,” said Faseeh Khan, an engineer working here with a private company.
The Peninsula
