Taxi Industry Opposes 'Tada Not Guilty' Verdict, Plans General Strike in Yeouido on 25th (Comprehensive)

Protesting Court Ruling... Launching Campaign to Urge Passage of the 'Tada Ban Law'

On the afternoon of December 6 last year, when the amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act, known as the 'Tada Ban Act,' was passed at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, a taxi was passing in front of a Tada vehicle at Gongdeok Five-way Intersection in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The taxi industry will launch a general strike on the 25th. This is in protest against the court ruling that the business activities of the car-sharing service 'Tada' are not illegal.

On the 20th, the Carpool Emergency Response Committee, composed of four taxi industry organizations including the National Taxi Labor Union Federation, decided to hold a general strike rally in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 25th. They plan to suspend taxi operations for one day.

The committee plans to use the general strike to urge the National Assembly and the government to pass the 'Tada Prohibition Act (Amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act)'.

A committee official said, "Although most users recognize and use Tada as a type of taxi, the court's recognition of it as a 'rental car' has given a license to operate a quasi-taxi business," adding, "On the day of the general strike, we will unite the strength of the angry taxi families." Representatives of the four organizations will hold a working-level meeting at 3 p.m. that day to coordinate the detailed schedule of the rally, the scale of mobilization, and the contents of the strike.

Judge Park Sang-gu of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 18, presiding alone, acquitted Lee Jae-woong, CEO of Socar, and Park Jae-woong, CEO of its subsidiary VCNC, who were indicted on charges of violating the Passenger Transport Service Act, at the sentencing hearing on the 19th.

Following the court ruling, the taxi industry began discussing joint response measures. The Carpool Emergency Response Committee, composed of four taxi-related organizations, convened an emergency meeting that afternoon and issued a joint statement.

In the joint statement, they said, "As the court stated, the law must be interpreted considering the legislative intent of the lawmakers under the principle of legality," and added, "It is contradictory to interpret Tada's illegal business activities as legal, which are unrelated to the exceptional allowance of driver mediation for rental cars with 13 seats or fewer for 'small to medium-sized group tours'." They further stated, "One million taxi families cannot accept the court's judgment."

The four taxi organizations are urging the prosecution to immediately appeal and are calling for the swift passage of the 'Tada Prohibition Bill (Amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act)' currently under review in the National Assembly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.