Taxi licenses attracting investors

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

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The prices of Turkish taxi license plates shot up by 29 percent from July 2011 to July 2012, and are proving to be a very profitable investment vehicle.

There are currently 17,500 yellow taxi license plates and 1,000 red taxi license plates in Istanbul. Owning a taxi plate license provides owners with a continuous and sustainable income stream, and it is considered a relatively safe investment option. Last July, the cost of owning a taxi license was 735,000 Turkish Liras, but this fee has since shot up to 951,000 liras in July 2012. Owners of taxi licenses can either use the taxis themselves or rent them out to others. If they choose to rent their licenses, they can see a return of 50,000 liras.

Taxi licenses are also attractive to small investors, who also have the option of renting out portions of a license. They can purchase a full license, half of a license, a quarter or even one-sixteenth of a license, which is called “bijon,” meaning “lug nut” in Turkish.