THE increase of the fuel surcharge from 2 yuan (US$0.31) to 3 yuan for red taxis has upset passengers while drivers feared it could affect business.
The city s development and reform commission raised the surcharge from Saturday due to a rise in gasoline price.
A passenger now has to pay 13 yuan for 2 kilometers with the 3-yuan surcharge. The price is even higher than the flag fall in Hong Kong where HK$14.5 yuan (US$1.87) is charged for the first 2 kilometers without a fuel surcharge.
The cost increase should be shared by taxi companies, drivers, passengers and the government, instead of the passengers alone... a hearing should be held, a Luohu man surnamed Li said.
A Shenzhen Yachi Taxi Service driver, identified only as Wang, said the surcharge increase would drive away short-trip passengers, the majority of his customers. Some taxi drivers hope the taxi company would reduce the monthly rent to share the burden caused by gasoline price rise. Taxi companies generally charge each taxi 13,000 yuan a month.
Taxi companies in Shanghai will reduce the monthly rent by 300 yuan in May and Shenzhen should learn from the Shanghai practice, Wang said.
The city government subsidizes each taxi with about 1,460 yuan a month to offset the price hike. It had allocated 200 million yuan for the industry from July 2006 to March 2010.
The price management department of the municipal development and reform commission adopted a gasoline-taxi fare ratio mechanism after a hearing in June 2009.
According to the mechanism, which allows two months for observation, each taxi can charge an additional 1 yuan surcharge when gasoline price increases by 0.87 yuan per liter. When the gasoline price reaches a range between 7.41 to 8.28 yuan per liter, the taxi can charge an additional 1 yuan surcharge. No. 93 gasoline in Shenzhen now is selling for 7.89 yuan per liter. (Han Ximin)
