China has been facing a shortage of taxi drivers as cities throughout the country have had trouble in recruiting taxi drivers, the Xinhua news agency reports.
Bad welfare and payment, large workload and poor industry management may have contributed to the lack of taxi drivers, the report says.
"My monthly income has decreased gradually from 6,000 yuan (916 US dollars) in 2006 to 3,000 yuan (458 US dollars) now due to the worsening traffic conditions and the rising fuel price," said Liu Dagui, a taxi driver in East China's Hangzhou city.
"I have got some occupational diseases, such as gastritis and cervical spondylosis, for I have to get up early at 4am and sit in the cab for twelve hours per day," Liu added.
As a result of the flimsy relationship between taxi drivers and taxi companies, the outflow rate of taxi drivers in Hangzhou has reached 40 percent, according to the Hangzhou Taxi Industry Association.
Taxi drivers generally do not sign a contract with the taxi company because of poor management in the industry, and instead they are asked to hand in a certain proportion of their earnings to the company, the report says.
The taxi industry's decline calls for government regulation, said Huang Ningfei, manager of a taxi company in Zhejiang Province.
Otherwise, the shortage may be more serious in the near future, according to Cai Guanrao, secretary of the Hangzhou Taxi Industry Association.
