Transportation | Taxi hotline to halt service this month

One of the three taxi-calling service providers in the region is set to shut down its hotline at the end of this year due to continual losses and competition from ridesharing application services.

Operating for nearly 22 years, the operator, Commercial Vehicles’ Owners Association, revealed that the suspension is a result of its continuous annual losses. They additionally cited competition from an unregulated car-hailing services in the territory.

Leng Sai Vai, president of the association noted that approximately 80 percent of taxis in the region rely on its services for which drivers pay  MOP200 to MOP300 per month.

“Sometimes taxi drivers are worried whether they will manage to see their customers in the designated locations. The times have changed,” he told TDM.

“Manpower can be significantly saved with a car-hailing application. The traditional car-hailing platform will only survive for “special taxis” while the black taxis have almost become history,” Leng added.

Although hotline number 28939939 is due to halt its service in a few days, some taxi drivers noted that it would not cause a significant impact on the industry, as it is not the way that most passengers acquire a taxi.

Meanwhile, a local resident told the media outlet that she rarely resorts to taxi-calling hotlines as it usually takes some time for a taxi called by one to arrive, while another criticized that taxis only target passengers from mainland China.