30 percent of complaints about taxis concern overcharging

From January to August this year, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) received over 1,540 complaints related to taxis, 467 of which were about taxi overcharging. This information was revealed by the DSAT during a press conference earlier this week.
The total number of complaints increased 20 percent year-on-year, with overcharging occurrences being 37.3 percent higher than in the first eight months of 2015.
Following overcharging are complaints regarding detours and refusals to take passengers, with 251 and 191 complaints recorded respectively.
Che Sai Wang, head of the Division of the Transport Management of DSAT, said that law enforcement officers from the transport authority are faced with disrespect from taxi drivers during inspection because their authority is not as far reaching as that of police officers.
Some taxi drivers do not cooperate with these officers from the transport authority, even going so far as to physically attack them sometimes. This has led to some officers leaving the department and their job, according to Che. He informed that there are currently 50 to 60 officers from DSAT working as taxi inspectors.
Another concern revealed during the conference focused on taxi infraction. According to Leong Wa Chi, head of traffic police department of the Public Security Police Force, this year, the number of violations of the taxi regulation decreased in comparison to the first half of 2015. Approximately 2,000 infractions were recorded in the first half of this year.