Sting operation labelled unfair to taxi drivers

The taxi industry has expressed its concerns regarding the new taxi regime’s proposal of police sting operations.

A representative of the taxi industry, surnamed Tong, met with the Third Standing Committee yesterday to inform the lawmakers of the drivers’ concerns.

On behalf of the taxi industry, Tong stressed that the sting operation would be unfair to the taxi industry and that such an operation would impose mental pressure upon the drivers.

Tong doubts the legitimacy of sting operations. He is worried that overwhelming power will be given to off-duty police officers.

In Tong’s opinion, approving sting operations is equivalent to labeling taxi drivers as unscrupulous.

According to statistics from the Public Security Police Force (PSP), in 2017, Macau recorded a total of 3,180 taxi overcharging cases, representing 57.9 percent of the total taxi infractions in 2017.

Tong accused the police authority of not actively handling taxi infractions, as it only issues fines to some unscrupulous taxi drivers in extreme cases.

The city’s new taxi regime increases the fines applied to unruly taxi drivers. Nevertheless, Tong believes that simply increasing fines will not improve the taxi service. Rather, fines will give drivers who provide bad service the impression that as long as they pay the fines, they can continue operating their vehicles, he said.