The number of regulatory breaches by taxi drivers recorded last year decreased by 48.2 per cent from the previous year, the Public Security Police (PSP) have announced in a statement.
In a statement on Friday, the police said that the number of violations by cabbies recorded between June 3 – when the new taxi law came into force – and December 31 decreased “noticeably” by 85.1 per cent year-on-year from the same period of 2018.
A total of 3,172 offences by cabbies were recorded last year, a decrease of 2,954 cases from 2018 when the police recorded 6,126 offences, according to the statement.
From June 3 to December 31, a total of 475 offences by cabbies were recorded, a drop of 2,708 cases from the same period of the previous year when the police recorded 3,183 offences.
According to the statement, the 475 offences recorded from June 3 to December 31 comprise 73 cases of overcharging, 121 cases of cabbies refusing to pick up passengers, and 281 cases concerning other violations.
Overcharging down by 96 per cent
The number of cases of overcharging passengers recorded from June 3 to December 31 decreased by 96.4 per cent from the same period of 2018 when 2,010 such cases were recorded, while the number of cases of refusing to pick up passengers during the seven-month period since the new taxi law took effect dropped by 81.8 per cent from the same period of 2018 when 666 such cases were recorded, according to the statement.
According to the new law regulating the city’s taxi sector, the fines for various violations have been significantly increased, such as for refusing to pick up passengers and overcharging.
The new taxi law replaced a taxi regulation which came into force in November 1999 – i.e. a month before the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
Under the current law, cabbies refusing to pick up passengers face a fine of 3,000 patacas, as opposed to a fine of 1,000 patacas under the previous regulation.
According to the current law, those overcharging passengers – when the overcharged amount is up to 50 patacas – face a fine of 6,000 patacas, while cabbies face a fine of 15,000 patacas when the overcharged amount exceeds 50 patacas. Under the previous regulation, overcharging carried a fine of 1,000 patacas.
According to the Macau Post Daily, the statement also said that the police recorded 122 cases of passenger transport services provided by unlicensed taxis last year, a 26 per cent drop from the previous year when 165 such cases were recorded.
According to the current law, those providing unlicensed passenger transport services – i.e. passenger transport services provided by unlicensed taxis – face a fine of 90,000 patacas, as opposed to a fine of 25,000 patacas under the old taxi regulation.
Ridesharing companies such as Uber are banned in Macau.
