Land Transport Department agrees with proposed taxi fare rise

BANGKOK, Oct 30 (TNA) – The Department of Land Transport (DLT) agreed with the proposal to allow 13,000 taxis which joined the Taxi OK project to increase fares by eight per cent and will forward it to the Ministry of Transport for consideration this week. DLT deputy Director-General Kamol Buranapong said that the study on the fare structure for taxi service by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) was concluded. It proposed that in additional to the fare calculation, based on the distance, a new charge be calculated for traffic delays. The average rise will not exceed eight per cent and the surcharge will be collected by taxi drivers, who improved its quality and service under the department’s TAXI OK project. Currently, 13,000 taxis out of all 80,000 registered in the system are qualified to increase fares. If the Ministry of Transport approves the proposal, it will be published in the Royal Gazette. The process will take about 30 days. According the statistics of complaints by taxi passengers through the hotline 1584, about 48,223 complaints were lodged in the 2018 fiscal year, higher than 43,804 cases in the previous year. Most complaints were rejecting passengers, rude behaviors, reckless driving and refusing to use meters. (TNA)