38 cabbies idled after complaints

By Dong Zhen  |   2008-10-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THIRTY-EIGHT taxi drivers have had their business licenses revoked since the city began a 100-day crackdown on bad service in August.

All the violators have been sent for special training in professional skills and operating rules and will not be allowed to carry passengers again until they pass a test, Du Runyuan, a spokesman for the city's taxi watchdog, said yesterday.

The regulator also said Shanghai Donglian Taxi Co has been put under close supervision because of rampant violations by its cabbies and its lax attitude in investigating complaints and disciplining offending drivers.

The watchdog said 25 cabbies from the fleet have been caught giving bad service this year, including turning down fares.

The company managers also failed to take five cabbies who faced service complaints to the regulator's office to finalize investigations.

"An official from the taxi fleet explained that they didn't do it because they feared that the fleet's monthly violation rate would be too high," Du said.

Local industry rules require that, if a taxi company's fleet violation rate exceeds 4 percent of its total cabs for two consecutive months, some or all of its taxies will be suspended for 15 days.