Gov’t issues “ultimatum” to yellow taxi company

Catarina Pinto, João Pedro Lau

The Macau government has issued an “ultimatum” to Vang Iek Radio Taxi, the company behind the city’s yellow taxi operations: the company should start providing only dial-
a-cab services or it will be required to cease its current operations after November 6.
Vang Iek’s license was extended in February for an additional nine months, under specific conditions. These included an agreement that the company would run 40 of their taxis normally, taking passengers within Macau’s streets, while 60 vehicles could only run a “dial-a-cab” service.
However, citizens have complained of difficulties in getting a yellow taxi both on the street or via call center.
The company’s license expires on November 6, but they have failed to reach a consensus with the government so far. The director of the Transport Bureau (DSAT), Wong Wan, clarified the government’s stance on the issue yesterday. He stated that Macau’s administration is demanding that all Yellow Taxis should operate on a dial-
a-cab basis as of November 6 otherwise they will be asked to cease operating.
Wong Wan said that Vang Iek has complained of difficulties in running an operation only based on dial-a-cab services, as even today they are not able to run all 100 taxi licenses due to the lack of manpower. “The company said that they cannot survive [providing only services on-call], so they’ve asked us to implement a special fee,” Wong Wan said.
However, a special fee poses several issues, he explained, since the amount might depend on the clients’ desired pick-up location. He hinted, for instance, that dialing a cab from Coloane would be different than dialing a cab in Macau, where the company might have more vehicles available.
Wong Wan did not disclose the special fee amount that Vang Iek has proposed. He hinted that the government does not rule out this option, but said the matter needs to be further assessed, and society needs to provide an opinion too.
DSAT’s head assured that black taxis, which can also operate on a “dial-a-cab” basis, is ready to operate some of its vehicles as a replacement for yellow taxis’ dial-a-cab service.
He recalled that 200 new black taxi licenses have been granted, which could come in handy to overcome any service disruption if Vang Iek ceases its operation. These new taxis are due to start operating in March, but he said it might be possible to bring it forward to January.
The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, revealed yesterday that he has already called on DSAT to work on a plan B to replace yellow cabs with other taxis, if the company can no longer operate after November 6.