Macau Radio Taxi Ltd admitted it has failed to respond to over 60 percent of customers requesting to use its services, blaming the lack of vehicles and professional drivers.
Speaking to local broadcaster TDM, Ken U, the general manager of Macau’s only legal ride-hailing company, said the company is only capable of meeting the requests of some 35 percent of its passengers, despite being in operation for nearly a year.
The firm commenced operations in April 2017 and states that its ultimate goal is to meet 80 or 90 percent of customer requests in order to better serve residents. It hopes to acquire more vehicles.
“100 percent is the best, but things can’t be this perfect. We [would be] satisfied with 80 or 90 percent, but it has yet to be attained. The lack of vehicles is a headache for us,” U added.
In July 2017, the company admitted that it had failed to answer some 70 percent of passengers requesting to use its services.
Although it had received a total of 320,000 calls in its first three months of operation, it only managed to respond to an average of 1,000 passengers per day.
The number of app users increased by 65 percent in the last quarter of 2017, with the firm saying it is working to improve its services, including its mobile app.
“To further enhance our efficiency, we’re also working out how we can immediately respond to nearby requests for rides upon dropping off passengers in a bid to cut costs,” he said.
U claimed that the pick-up rate would hit 90 percent if 200 more special taxi licenses were added.
Prior to the launch of Radio Taxi, which has an eight-year license, the government stated that they will monitor various aspects of the service in accordance with the concession contract. These include the number of vehicles in operation and the phone call pick-up ratio. Should the service not be up to standard, it will be subject to fines and penalties that can lead to the concession’s termination.
The Transport Bureau had previously announced that the 100 new available licenses for taxi services would be limited to electric vehicles.
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