Seoul to crack down on taxi drivers overcharging foreign tourists
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
The special crackdown in Seoul will target illegal taxi activities such as overcharging, demanding tips, refusing short-distance fares and other inconveniences often faced by tourists when hailing taxis.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
SEOUL – The Seoul municipal government announced on Aug 6 that it would launch a 100-day special crackdown on taxi drivers’ unfair treatment of overseas tourists.
The initiative will target illegal taxi activities such as overcharging, demanding tips
The crackdown will focus on airports and tourist attractions in Seoul, including the Myeong-dong shopping district.
In the city centre, Seoul Metropolitan Government civil servants will penalise taxi drivers who refuse to take foreign passengers on short trips, wait to demand prices above standard rates from tourists or overcharge at night.
The 100-day crackdown is designed to “rectify illegal taxi activities ahead of the peak tourism season in South Korea”, said Mr Yeo Jang-kwon, head of the transportation office at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The initiative follows ongoing efforts by the city to address the issues, including 139 cases of overcharging reported at airports near Seoul and 109 cases of taxi drivers refusing to accept foreign passengers for short rides, as at end-June. Regular crackdowns have been in place since 2015.
Visitors can report taxi-related issues via card-sized survey slips available at Incheon and Gimpo airports. These cards link to a survey through a QR code and are available in English, Chinese and Japanese.
In Seoul, the base fare for a single standard taxi ride up to 1.6km is 4,800 won ($4.50). An additional 100 won is charged for every 131m of travel. At night, the base fare ranges from 5,800 won to 6,700 won, depending on the time of travel. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
