Taxi Ride Refusals Due to Garage Destination Expected to Decrease in the Future

Seoul City Allows Shift Changes Outside Garages... Also Promotes Platform Taxi Activation

On the first day of mandatory mask-wearing on public transportation, the 26th, citizens wearing masks are waiting for taxis in front of Seoul Station. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] In the future, taxi refusals due to the reason of 'having to return to the garage' are expected to decrease at least in Seoul. Platform taxis such as 'Tada', 'KakaoT Blue', and 'T map Taxi' are becoming more active, and services for premium taxis as well as for transportation-vulnerable groups such as the disabled and the elderly are expected to diversify according to consumer demand.

On the 24th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will reduce taxi regulations by allowing taxi drivers to change shifts outside the garage and easing the license conversion criteria for premium and large taxis.

First, the criteria will be relaxed within this year so that taxi drivers can change shifts without having to go to the garage. Currently, to prevent illegal use of names and to manage taxi drivers and vehicles, shift changes are only allowed inside the garage. However, since taxi garages are mainly located on the outskirts of the city, drivers had to move empty to the garage to change shifts, which often led to refusals to pick up passengers.

The city plans to pilot the allowance of shift changes outside the garage starting with franchise taxi companies equipped with driver verification and management systems, and then uniformly permit it for all corporate taxis.

Additionally, the city will promote the introduction of various taxi services by relaxing the qualification requirements needed for license conversion from medium-sized taxis to large and premium taxis. It also proposed a legal amendment to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to allow corporate taxi companies to join multiple franchise businesses simultaneously, such as KakaoT Blue and Macaron Taxi. Under current law, taxi operators can only join one franchise business.

Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul, said, "We will ease unnecessary regulations to allow various taxi services to be introduced, but we will firmly take action against basic legal violations such as refusal to pick up passengers and unfair fares."

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