TAIPEI (TVBS News) — With the pandemic cooling down and the Chinese New Year drawing near, taxis have become more and more difficult to hail.
Over the past two years, Taiwan has seen a decrease of over 2,000 taxis due to the pandemic, from the original 92,000. However, as the demand for rides has risen once again, many cab drivers are taking advantage of the situation.
According to regulations, meter taxis are priced based on mileage. In order to avoid platform commissions, some drivers will choose to end their meter calculation of the trips early, while continuing to carry passengers to their destination, in order to save commission fees.
"For example, the passenger may be traveling to Hsinchu or taking a longer journey, to Taoyuan. In the middle of the journey, (the driver) may stop the meter calculations, and the platform that takes commission will not know," said Lee Lin-che, a taxi driver.
"The fare may be NT＄1,000. The commission may then be NT＄125. If the fare was only NT＄100, then I will only need to pay NT＄12.5," he added.
When it comes to taxi-hailing platforms, according to statistics, the largest platform is 55688 Taiwan Taxi, which has about 22,000 vehicles, accounting for close to 25% of the market.
The second largest is Uber, with about 11,000 vehicles. And the third largest is Line Taxi with around 10,000 vehicles. Among them, Uber takes the largest commission fee, of up to 25% off each order, but the driver's dispatch of cars is relatively stable. Each platform has a different method for charging a commission.
According to Chang Hong-yi, secretary-general of the Association of Mobile Tech Dispatch Platform, "there may be a case, where the driver has joined different platforms, taking orders across platforms. This is actually not allowed in regulations, and it is easy to cause some consumer disputes."
With the spark in demand for taxi, in order for the platforms to keep their competitive edge, ensuring good quality and safety for their passengers would be an essential factor to stand out against others.