Suwon City Cracks Down on Illegal Taxi Operations

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City will conduct intensive crackdowns on illegal taxi operations including overcharging and soliciting passengers throughout December as the year-end season approaches.

The city, in cooperation with the National Taxi Labor Union Suwon Branch and the Suwon Individual Taxi Association, will focus intensive enforcement from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. the next day at five key locations where complaints about illegal taxi operations frequently occur: around Naehyeseok Street, Suwon Station, Samsung Electronics headquarters, Youngtong Station, and Maetan Commercial Center.

The main focus areas for enforcement include ▲overcharging (fare haggling) ▲operating outside designated service areas ▲refusing passengers ▲passenger sharing arrangements ▲refusing card payments and not issuing receipts ▲prolonged parking (soliciting passengers), etc.

When illegal conduct is detected, strong administrative measures including fines will be imposed, and transportation operators and workers will be required to undergo education on traffic regulations and service quality.

An official from the City's Public Transportation Division said, "We will conduct thorough enforcement so that citizens can receive safe and convenient transportation services during the year-end period when illegal taxi operations tend to increase."

Through October this year, 854 administrative actions related to taxi operations were filed with the city. Overcharging had the highest number at 190 cases, followed by violations of service area restrictions with 186 cases, passenger refusal with 94 cases, and mid-route passenger drop-off with 51 cases.