Leadership

Shafiullah Khaja

Founder and Director, Wav Sydney

A former Sydney taxi driver who wanted drivers to have a say in the systems they use every shift, and built a group of sixteen businesses around that idea.

Shafiullah Khaja, founder and director of Wav Sydney, in a navy suit and white shirt

Director's message

A message from the director

I wanted to build a system for drivers, shaped by the people who knew the work firsthand. When you earn your living behind the wheel, you learn how much depends on the details of a booking. You know what helps you do your job well, and you have ideas about what could work better. I started Wav Sydney because I believed drivers deserved a say in how that system was built.

My friend Mudassir Khan was there with me when we started Wav Sydney Pty Ltd. When COVID disrupted our industry, difficult circumstances led Mudassir to pursue another opportunity. We parted ways professionally on good terms, and I'll always be grateful for the part he played in those early days.

For my part, I remained steadfast in what we had set out to do. I kept building. Wav Sydney has grown since those early days, but I still come back to the same question whenever we build something new. Will this make the job better for the driver behind the wheel?

Signature of Shafiullah Khaja

Shafiullah Khaja

Director, Wav Sydney Pty Ltd

About Shafiullah Khaja

Background

Shafiullah Khaja was born in Hyderabad, India, and moved to Australia in 1997. He completed a Master's degree in Information Technology and went to work in logistics, including jobs at Linfox and Armaguard.

Both companies run big fleets where the timing has to be right. That experience stayed with him: how vehicles are scheduled, how drivers get their jobs, and how much depends on the system in the middle.

From driver to operator

In 2011 he started driving a taxi in Sydney. The work showed him the industry from the seat that most system designers never sit in. Jobs came through a radio room and an in-car terminal that had not changed much in years, and drivers spent part of every shift working around it.

In 2013 he founded Fast Maxi, a maxi cab service for groups and airport transfers. In 2017 he started Wav Sydney Pty Ltd from the garage of his home, with his friend Mudassir Khan, and merged Fast Maxi into the new company. In 2018 WAV Cabs took its first bookings, still run from the garage at home, and in 2019 it added wheelchair accessible taxis.

Moving the tools onto a tablet

In 2018 Wav Sydney moved Sydney Airport's taxi short-fare system at the Domestic terminal onto a tablet, replacing the old in-car terminal. The same year it took its booking and dispatch system off the traditional radio room and mobile data terminal and put it on a digital tablet.

Both changes came from the same place. He had been the driver waiting on the old equipment, so he knew which parts slowed people down.

The group today

COVID was hard on the taxi industry. With flights grounded and cruise ships kept away, most of the airport and cruise work disappeared, and coming back took a long time. Shafiullah kept building. The transport brands now carry Sydneysiders to Sydney Airport and the cruise terminals, take party bus bookings through Fast Maxi, WAV Maxi Cabs and WAV Minibus, and handle everyday trips across the city. On Google, Fast Maxi is rated 4.9, and WAV Cabs and WAV Maxi Cabs 4.8. Around them the group has built booking platforms, workforce software, a digital agency and a disability support service. There are sixteen businesses in all.

In the industry

Wav Sydney was a member of the NSW Taxi Council. It is contracted with Wheelchair Book & Ride, the central booking service for wheelchair accessible taxis in Sydney, which Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) runs. Its booking and dispatch runs on SmartMove, an Australian system built for taxi fleets.

Our people

The people behind sixteen businesses.

Shafiullah leads Wav Sydney with the management team below. Behind them, around 50 people at the group's overseas office work across all sixteen businesses.

Management

  • Shafiullah Khaja, Founder and Director at Wav Sydney

    Shafiullah Khaja

    Founder and Director

  • Akbar Pasha Mohammad, Office Manager at Wav Sydney

    Akbar Pasha Mohammad

    Office Manager

  • Saifullah Khaja, Operations Executive at Wav Sydney

    Saifullah Khaja

    Operations Executive

  • Yousuf Ahmed, IT Manager at Wav Sydney

    Yousuf Ahmed

    IT Manager

  • Asma Nazneen

    Training and HR Manager

Overseas office

around 50

people in teams that each work for all sixteen of the group's businesses.

  • Call centre

    Answers customer calls for the group's businesses.

  • Digital marketing

    Looks after the brands' websites, search, ads and social media.

  • Development

    Builds and maintains the group's apps, booking platforms and business software.

  • Training

    Trains new staff so work is done the same way across the group.

In the industry

Who Wav Sydney works with.

Accessible taxi bookings with SCIA, booking and dispatch on SmartMove, and past membership of the NSW Taxi Council.

  • Shafiullah Khaja with Theresa Rittenhouse and Kelvin Sui of SCIA at the Wheelchair Book & Ride stand
    Shafiullah Khaja with Theresa Rittenhouse and Kelvin Sui of SCIA at the Wheelchair Book & Ride stand.

    Accessible transport

    Wheelchair Book & Ride, with SCIA

    Wav Sydney works with Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) and is contracted with Wheelchair Book & Ride, the central booking service for wheelchair accessible taxis in Sydney. SCIA runs the service and Transport for NSW funds it.

    scia.org.au (opens in a new tab)
  • Shafiullah Khaja and Akbar Pasha Mohammad of Wav Sydney with Jason Lawrie and Gia Bao of SmartMove at the SmartMove stand
    Shafiullah Khaja and Akbar Pasha Mohammad (right) of Wav Sydney with Jason Lawrie and Gia Bao of SmartMove at the 2024 NSW Taxi Industry State Conference.

    Booking and dispatch

    SmartMove

    Wav Sydney runs on SmartMove, an Australian taxi booking and dispatch system.

  • Shafiullah Khaja with Nick Abrahim, CEO of the NSW Taxi Council
    Shafiullah Khaja with Nick Abrahim, CEO of the NSW Taxi Council.

    Industry body

    Former member of the NSW Taxi Council

    Wav Sydney was a member of the NSW Taxi Council, the industry body for taxi networks and operators in New South Wales. The council also trades as Taxis NSW.

  • Shafiullah Khaja standing in front of three black minibuses from the group's fleet
    Shafiullah Khaja with part of the group's black car fleet.

    The fleet

    The black car fleet

    Black minibuses carry groups to the airport, weddings, corporate events and nights out across Sydney.

The journey

From Hyderabad to the driver's seat to sixteen businesses.

Shafiullah Khaja drove a Sydney taxi before he ran a taxi company. Most of what Wav Sydney does differently comes from those years behind the wheel.

  1. 01 / 12

    1997

    Hyderabad to Australia

    Shafiullah Khaja moves to Australia from Hyderabad, India. He goes on to finish a Master's degree in Information Technology.

  2. 02 / 12

    Before 2011

    Learning logistics

    He works in logistics, including jobs at Linfox and Armaguard. Both run large fleets on tight schedules, and he sees how that planning is done from the inside.

  3. 03 / 12

    2011

    Behind the wheel

    He starts driving a taxi in Sydney. Before long he knows exactly what the booking and dispatch systems are missing, because he is the one working around the gaps every shift.

  4. 04 / 12

    2013

    Fast Maxi

    He founds Fast Maxi, a maxi cab service for groups, families, airport runs and cruise transfers.

  5. 05 / 12

    2017

    Wav Sydney Pty Ltd

    Shafiullah starts Wav Sydney Pty Ltd from the garage of his home, with his friend Mudassir Khan beside him, and Fast Maxi merges into the new company. Wav Sydney is registered in October 2017.

  6. 06 / 12

    2018

    WAV Cabs takes its first bookings

    WAV Cabs starts taking bookings across Sydney, run from the garage of Shafiullah's home.

  7. 07 / 12

    2018

    Technology

    Short fares on a tablet

    Wav Sydney moves Sydney Airport's taxi short-fare system at the Domestic terminal onto a tablet. Until then, drivers handled short-fare returns on the old in-car terminal.

  8. 08 / 12

    2018

    Technology

    Dispatch goes digital

    Wav Sydney takes its booking and dispatch system off the traditional radio room and in-car mobile data terminal and puts it on a digital tablet.

  9. 09 / 12

    2019

    Wheelchair accessible taxis

    WAV Cabs adds wheelchair accessible taxis to the fleet and starts taking wheelchair bookings.

  10. 10 / 12

    2020

    The long way back

    COVID stops Sydney almost overnight. Flights are grounded and cruise ships stop coming, so most of the airport and cruise work disappears. Coming back is slow and hard, and the business is rebuilt one booking at a time.

  11. 11 / 12

    Every day

    Moving Sydneysiders

    The transport brands carry passengers to Sydney Airport and the cruise terminals, take party bus bookings through Fast Maxi, WAV Maxi Cabs and WAV Minibus, and run everyday trips across the city. On Google, Fast Maxi is rated 4.9 and WAV Cabs and WAV Maxi Cabs 4.8, across more than 1,900 reviews.

  12. 12 / 12

    2026

    Sixteen businesses

    WSI Airport Taxi serves the new Western Sydney International Airport. The group now runs sixteen businesses across transport, booking technology, business software and care.

Photo credits

Photos are cropped, darkened and softened for this page. They illustrate the story and are not photos of Wav Sydney vehicles or staff.

Get in touch with the office.

Partnership, media and senior business enquiries go to Shafiullah's office through the contact form.

Contact the officeAbout the group