The Monarch Tuksi Company’s has been taken off the road by the City of Cape Town.

Brothers, James and Daniel Clarence are the founders of the Monarch Tuksi Company, with its fleet of 20 tuk-tuks. The Monarch Tuksi Company provides a one of a kind “private chauffeur co-operative and media business.”

The arrival of the Monoarch Tuksi Company service was greeted with enthusiasm by many local residents, who welcomed the low fares, strong social media presence, and novel open air method of transport in the CBD.

The company received a more frigid welcome from City officials, who refused to grant Monarch a public transport operating license. Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron said earlier that the City does not have any policy framework in place to support the licensing of tuk-tuks.

Monarch circumvented the blockade by awarding customers with non-voting shares in the company. When customers stepped into a tuksi, they were presented with a shareholder register. Shareholders transport needs are catered to in private capacity. Shareholder were welcome to tweet them, call them or BBM them for pick-up at a desired location. Monarch wasn’t selling transport. They were selling shares, and just happened to be providing private lifts to their shareholders.

The City of Cape Town’s Robin Carlisle and Brett Herron are the officials responsible for public transport in the City. Ultimately, the decision to remove Monarch from the roads would have rested with them.

Locals are outraged, claiming that Herron and associates have removed a perfectly working system, and have failed to target over-priced metered taxis, some of which operate without licenses, from unroadworthy vehicles.

Neither Herron, nor the Monarch Tuksi company were available for comment at the time of writing.

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[Source: Batonage, BDLive, Monarch Tuksi Company]