PSP warns taxi industry to behave

In a meeting with seven representatives from the local taxi industry on Wednesday, the head of the Public Security Police’s traffic department, Che Wai, has reiterated that the authorities are keeping a close eye on local taxi drivers, and will continue to tackle irregularities like excessive fare charging and the refusing of fares.
Mr Che said that he understands the concerns of the taxi industry regarding the recent crackdown on taxi drivers. However, he said that the authorities have received many complaints from residents and tourists, and that the police are only targeting a small group of taxi drivers rather than the whole industry. He also claimed that issues with taxis have been tackled regularly, not only in recent days.
Kuok Leong Son, the Macau Taxi Driver Mutual Association president, was also in attendance at the meeting. He pointed out that the police have recently been prosecuting drivers who pick up or drop off passengers on the side of the road with yellow lines, where it is prohibited to stop one’s vehicle. He suggested that it is because Macau does not have many taxi stations that taxis are forced to stop on spots with yellow lines. Kuok hopes that the authorities can take this into consideration and allow taxi drivers to drop off passengers on some yellow line spots in a way that does not obstruct traffic.
Che responded that he would bring Kuok’s suggestion to the relevant authorities. However, he said that the police still needs to enforce the Traffic Law and they would not ease up on the issue. He also said that everybody is equal in the eyes of the law.
In the first 10 days of 2015, the police prosecuted 93 cases of excessive fare charging and 43 cases of refusing fares.