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Cabbies report meter thefts
By Zha Minjie |
July 22, 2011, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
More than 50 taxi meters have been stolen, probably the work of illegal cloned cabbies to upgrade their vehicles for the latest rise in taxi fares, police said yesterday.
Local police and the city's taxi watchdog said they were looking into the thefts, which were widely reported by local cab drivers two weeks after the price increase.
"Whenever the city changes the taxi fares, I should be more careful and lock up my taxi door," said a city cabbie, surnamed Jin, who has been in the business for more than 10 years.
Jin said his meter was stolen before and he had to pay to replace it himself.
The city's 50,000 licensed cabs began charging two more yuan, including one for new fuel surcharge, on July 9. The meter change work is scheduled to be finished by the end of this month, said the traffic authorities.
The flag-down fare rises to 14 yuan from 12 yuan, including the fuel surcharge.
The cloned taxis, which bear the same markings as regular ones, could not get their meters changed because they are on the streets illegally.
In a check Wednesday near the Shanghai Railway Station, where illegal cabs often line up, a local traffic-enforcement team found a taxi that cloned a cab from Qiangsheng Taxi Co, Shanghai's largest taxi operator.
Qiangsheng said it has finished changing the meters on all its 13,000 taxis, while the cloned one did not have the meter upgraded.
The local taxi watchdog encourages passengers and drivers to be on the lookout for illegal cabs. Locals will be awarded 500 yuan by the city taxi industry association for clues that lead to the seizure of any cloned cabs, a new tool this year.
Law enforcement officials estimate there are 5,000 to 6,000 cloned cabs in Shanghai. .
Local police and the city's taxi watchdog said they were looking into the thefts, which were widely reported by local cab drivers two weeks after the price increase.
"Whenever the city changes the taxi fares, I should be more careful and lock up my taxi door," said a city cabbie, surnamed Jin, who has been in the business for more than 10 years.
Jin said his meter was stolen before and he had to pay to replace it himself.
The city's 50,000 licensed cabs began charging two more yuan, including one for new fuel surcharge, on July 9. The meter change work is scheduled to be finished by the end of this month, said the traffic authorities.
The flag-down fare rises to 14 yuan from 12 yuan, including the fuel surcharge.
The cloned taxis, which bear the same markings as regular ones, could not get their meters changed because they are on the streets illegally.
In a check Wednesday near the Shanghai Railway Station, where illegal cabs often line up, a local traffic-enforcement team found a taxi that cloned a cab from Qiangsheng Taxi Co, Shanghai's largest taxi operator.
Qiangsheng said it has finished changing the meters on all its 13,000 taxis, while the cloned one did not have the meter upgraded.
The local taxi watchdog encourages passengers and drivers to be on the lookout for illegal cabs. Locals will be awarded 500 yuan by the city taxi industry association for clues that lead to the seizure of any cloned cabs, a new tool this year.
Law enforcement officials estimate there are 5,000 to 6,000 cloned cabs in Shanghai. .
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