On November 16th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has submitted a proposal for the increase in the minimum taxi fare from 3,000 to 3,800 to Seoul Metropolitan Council (SMC).
Plans for Increasing Minimum Taxi Fare for Seoul Taxis
Last October, the Seoul Labor and Management Committee including taxi labor and industry, civic groups, and experts urged the city to increase the salary of workers in the transportation industry to 2.85 million and the minimum taxi fare in Seoul to make up for losses in the taxi industry. With this background, the process of the increase in the minimum taxi fare is thought to have accelerated. As the minimum taxi fare has been fixed at 3,000 since 2013, some workers think that it needs to be changed regarding the current economic situation. Therefore, the Seoul Metropolitan Government proposed the increased taxi fare to the city council.
Effects of Increase in the Minimum Taxi Fare
When considering all the factors, the fare would increase by 17.1%. This increased fare system is expected to be implemented at the earliest, probably by the end of this year after the Seoul Metropolitan Council listens to citizens’ opinions and after the Price Control Committee and Taxi Policy Committee discuss the increase. On November 18th, the metropolitan government also announced that it was preparing measures to offset some concerns that a taxi driver’s service might not be increased as much. The city government is planning to introduce a public taxi application, reinforce administrative measures, and provide more taxis during night time. It is not only Seoul but also Gyeonggi Province and Incheon Metropolitan City plan to increase the minimum taxi fare. In particular, Gyeonggi Provincial Government plans to confirm changes to the current taxi fare system around February 2019. Although it has not been decided as yet, the rate of taxi fare increase in Gyeonggi Province would increase at least by 800 considering that Seoul plans to increase its minimum taxi fare by this amount.