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A poster informs international nationals about frequent unfair taxi practices and how one can report them in Seoul / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Authorities
The Seoul Metropolitan Authorities stated Tuesday that 487 complaints of overpriced fares have been filed inside six months after a QR code system for reporting unfair taxi practices was launched final June.
To handle the continuing subject, the town final month launched English-language paper taxi receipts that present passengers with itemized fare particulars. The transfer follows a broader push to modernize oversight, together with an app-based system for checking fare estimates.
The measures purpose to shut loopholes which have lengthy left vacationers susceptible to overcharging — which has emerged as the most typical criticism amongst worldwide guests utilizing taxis within the capital.
New paper receipts present key particulars — together with the ultimate fare, pickup and drop-off instances and whether or not surcharges have been utilized — in English alongside Korean. Town additionally standardized English terminology throughout platforms, utilizing “meter fare” for fares and “toll payment” for highway fees.
“Beforehand, paper taxi receipts have been printed solely in Korean and didn’t present whether or not surcharges have been utilized, a flaw that could possibly be exploited — resembling misuse of the out-of-city surcharge — to overcharge international passengers, prompting the town to enhance the system,” the town authorities stated.
Beneath the adjustments, international passengers can now verify itemized fare estimates upfront by means of foreigner-focused apps resembling Kakao Mobility’s Okay.journey and TABA, in addition to broadly used platforms like Tada and Tmoney’s Onda, with driving fares and toll fees listed individually.
Beforehand, estimated taxi fares confirmed solely the meter fare, making it troublesome to inform whether or not drivers had added tolls or different fees improperly.
“To curb unlawful taxi practices resembling overcharging, we’ll step up efforts to tell international passengers about reporting channels and impose stricter penalties on drivers who violate the principles,” stated Yeo Jang-kwon, head of the town’s Transportation Bureau.
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