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Taxing them too hard
By Zhang Zhilong Source:Global Times Published: 2012-7-30 20:05:03
Taxis pack on street in front of the Beijing Railway Station to get passengers during the Spring Festival travel season. Photo: CFP
After reporting the unreasonable rules enforced by taxi administrative staff in Guangzhou, taxi driver Fan Fali lost his job, was injured and had to beg for a living in Guangzhou airport.
Fan, also known as Laowang, 44, comes from Henan Province and has been working in Guangzhou for 11 years. He went to the taxi supervising organization twice last year, on May 25 and 30, to report about extra fees being levied by taxi companies, including the Longdi Taxi Company which he worked for, the Yangcheng Evening News reported in June.
Just over a month later, Fan was fired and his taxi certificate was withdrawn. The excuse was that he hired drivers illegally for his car.
No dissent
Fan was brave, but not every taxi driver can be so outspoken, as they want to keep their jobs.
"Every driver knows this, but it's a reality. For migrant workers in Guangzhou like me, I must have a car to drive and I cannot afford to wait for too long," one taxi driver told the Global Times.
In order to secure an income of 5,000 yuan ($784) a month, he works 12 hours a day and is too afraid to join any protest or strike. "I have a family to support," he said. Though he didn't participate, he remembers all too well the consequences faced by his friends who did four years ago.
It was reported by Caijing magazine that almost half of the taxi drivers in Guangzhou chose to "take a break together" at the same time in 2008. The strike lasted one day, from the evening of November 30 until December 1.
Before this, drivers in Chongqing Municipality went on strike in August 2008, and were soon followed by drivers in Sanya, Hainan Province, in November. Strikes were also seen in Heilongjiang Province in 2009, in Henan Province in 2010 and in Fujian Province in 2011.
"Taxi drivers who organized the strike were sentenced to over one year in jail, because they were said to have undermined social stability," the driver said. Those who went on strike were also punished. Further punishment was apparently extended to the birthplaces of the protest leaders since people applying for taxi permits from these companies were allegedly blacklisted.
His caution was also shared by another driver who once exposed some inside stories to local media.
"This is not a good time, and I cannot tell you anything. I'll come to you when the time is right," the man told the Global Times by text on July 2. "My boss just talked to me recently and asked me not to cause trouble. I still dare not talk to you," he said on July 24.
Tough rules for drivers
The situation is just as tough for drivers in Beijing. "We are often to blame, like this time [during the rainstorm on July 21], but who really knows our situation, and who is willing to speak up for us?" Ma, a taxi driver in Beijing, told the Global Times.
When Beijing was hit by the heaviest rain in decades on July 21, taxi drivers disappeared from the streets. But when the rain stopped, some taxi drivers showed up at Beijing Capital International Airport, wrote a netizen on Sina Weibo. Passengers heading downtown were told they would have to pay 500 yuan instead of the normal 60 to 70.
Ma works for Yinjian Taxi Company in Beijing and has been a driver for five years. "The longer I drive a taxi, the more problems I see in this industry, but what can I do?"
"Being a taxi driver is just like this. You must adapt to the situation, or you can leave if you can't get used to it," Ma said, quoting words he often heard from superiors.
"Few people realize the risks we face increase in rainy or snowy weather. What if we get trapped? What if we get stuck?" asked Ma. "We have to pay for any costs of repairing the car, which reduces our already small income," he said.
Even if their cars have accidents in harsh weather conditions, the same amount of "contract money" still has to be handed in to the companies they work for. This daily fee charged to drivers is how taxi companies make money but it is becoming a growing burden for drivers. Every day, their debt increases.
"According to our agreement, my 'contract money' is 5,175 yuan per month, but I pay 5,900 yuan in all to the company, including insurance expenses," said Ma. He said he is satisfied with the company since at least he is insured.
Driving for at least 13 hours each day, Ma takes home 4,000 yuan a month, which can just about support his family.
The traffic jams that cripple Beijing roads are the main reason preventing drivers from making much money. Ma earned over 7,000 yuan a month during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games period, thanks to the good transportation conditions. "But that was just for two months," said Ma.
Before drivers get a car, they must also pay a deposit to companies. Ma said he paid 20,000 yuan to his company. He was lucky because he didn't pay any gratuities, which many drivers have to fork over for the job in the first place. These can reach an extra 2,000 yuan in Beijing.
After reporting the unreasonable rules enforced by taxi administrative staff in Guangzhou, taxi driver Fan Fali lost his job, was injured and had to beg for a living in Guangzhou airport.
Fan, also known as Laowang, 44, comes from Henan Province and has been working in Guangzhou for 11 years. He went to the taxi supervising organization twice last year, on May 25 and 30, to report about extra fees being levied by taxi companies, including the Longdi Taxi Company which he worked for, the Yangcheng Evening News reported in June.
Just over a month later, Fan was fired and his taxi certificate was withdrawn. The excuse was that he hired drivers illegally for his car.
No dissent
Fan was brave, but not every taxi driver can be so outspoken, as they want to keep their jobs.
"Every driver knows this, but it's a reality. For migrant workers in Guangzhou like me, I must have a car to drive and I cannot afford to wait for too long," one taxi driver told the Global Times.
In order to secure an income of 5,000 yuan ($784) a month, he works 12 hours a day and is too afraid to join any protest or strike. "I have a family to support," he said. Though he didn't participate, he remembers all too well the consequences faced by his friends who did four years ago.
It was reported by Caijing magazine that almost half of the taxi drivers in Guangzhou chose to "take a break together" at the same time in 2008. The strike lasted one day, from the evening of November 30 until December 1.
Before this, drivers in Chongqing Municipality went on strike in August 2008, and were soon followed by drivers in Sanya, Hainan Province, in November. Strikes were also seen in Heilongjiang Province in 2009, in Henan Province in 2010 and in Fujian Province in 2011.
"Taxi drivers who organized the strike were sentenced to over one year in jail, because they were said to have undermined social stability," the driver said. Those who went on strike were also punished. Further punishment was apparently extended to the birthplaces of the protest leaders since people applying for taxi permits from these companies were allegedly blacklisted.
His caution was also shared by another driver who once exposed some inside stories to local media.
"This is not a good time, and I cannot tell you anything. I'll come to you when the time is right," the man told the Global Times by text on July 2. "My boss just talked to me recently and asked me not to cause trouble. I still dare not talk to you," he said on July 24.
Tough rules for drivers
The situation is just as tough for drivers in Beijing. "We are often to blame, like this time [during the rainstorm on July 21], but who really knows our situation, and who is willing to speak up for us?" Ma, a taxi driver in Beijing, told the Global Times.
When Beijing was hit by the heaviest rain in decades on July 21, taxi drivers disappeared from the streets. But when the rain stopped, some taxi drivers showed up at Beijing Capital International Airport, wrote a netizen on Sina Weibo. Passengers heading downtown were told they would have to pay 500 yuan instead of the normal 60 to 70.
Ma works for Yinjian Taxi Company in Beijing and has been a driver for five years. "The longer I drive a taxi, the more problems I see in this industry, but what can I do?"
"Being a taxi driver is just like this. You must adapt to the situation, or you can leave if you can't get used to it," Ma said, quoting words he often heard from superiors.
"Few people realize the risks we face increase in rainy or snowy weather. What if we get trapped? What if we get stuck?" asked Ma. "We have to pay for any costs of repairing the car, which reduces our already small income," he said.
Even if their cars have accidents in harsh weather conditions, the same amount of "contract money" still has to be handed in to the companies they work for. This daily fee charged to drivers is how taxi companies make money but it is becoming a growing burden for drivers. Every day, their debt increases.
"According to our agreement, my 'contract money' is 5,175 yuan per month, but I pay 5,900 yuan in all to the company, including insurance expenses," said Ma. He said he is satisfied with the company since at least he is insured.
Driving for at least 13 hours each day, Ma takes home 4,000 yuan a month, which can just about support his family.
The traffic jams that cripple Beijing roads are the main reason preventing drivers from making much money. Ma earned over 7,000 yuan a month during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games period, thanks to the good transportation conditions. "But that was just for two months," said Ma.
Before drivers get a car, they must also pay a deposit to companies. Ma said he paid 20,000 yuan to his company. He was lucky because he didn't pay any gratuities, which many drivers have to fork over for the job in the first place. These can reach an extra 2,000 yuan in Beijing.
Restricted and constricted
To reporters and experts who have investigated the matter in Beijing and other cities, all these problems are due to a restrictive policy which limits the numbers of taxis.
The hidden problem in the taxi industry in Beijing was first uncovered by Wang Keqin in a series of reports in 2002 for the China Economic Times.
There are about 66,000 taxis in Beijing, but illegal cabs outnumbered them over 10 years ago, said Guo Yushan, president of Transition Institute, a Beijing-based NGO conducting researches and surveys on social issues including taxi management.
"As the city is developing quickly and more people are coming to Beijing, it is natural that more taxis are needed," Guo told the Global Times.
He said a monopoly has a stranglehold on the industry, which guarantees high profits for certain interest groups. "The reality is that taxis are hard to get, the service provided by drivers is bad, and a large number of black cabs are coming in," he said.
"The problem in taxi industry is like a cancer, and it has spread everywhere," said Guo, explaining that the problems are caused by the model Beijing is following now. Its "sick" model has also been copied and promoted in other cities.
Everyone should be able to drive a taxi if they want to, which is the rule of a market economy, and licenses should be free to the public, Guo believes, instead of making taxi licenses prohibitively expensive.
He proposes that the "London model" should be implemented where no license limit is set, and everyone can drive a taxi so long as drivers undergo rigid training and testing, and their cars meet the minimum standards set by the government.
Guo said a limit for taxis in Beijing was set in 1994, which prevents new permits from being issued. Five years later, the current model was put in place in Beijing, which helped collect limited licenses from small companies and distribute them to large companies.
"Once the model is formed, it is hard to break because it is all about interest," said Guo. He proposed that preferential policies be given to rental cars.
"The car can be rented in the name of one company, and the driver can be hired from another, which could circumvent the current policy," said Guo, adding that with such favorable policies in place, the model could become cheaper and thus benefit more people.
"This will finally allow people to enjoy a best service for a lowest cost," said Guo.
Guerilla tactics
Taxi drivers and traffic experts agree that it will take time to change the current situation, and sometimes skills have to be used on drivers who are afraid of being reported to the supervisory bodies.
Global Times reporters challenged taxi drivers who invented reasons not to take passengers, such as coming to the end of their shift or needing to go in the opposite direction. They were asked to prove by either phoning their company or their fellow driver. More often than not, the drivers capitulated and accepted the fare.
This tactic works often for passengers, but it is not a viable threat for every taxi driver, especially for those who are not afraid of being reported. Hence, these drivers tend to cluster together in certain high-traffic areas and charge more for passengers.
Beijing West Railway Station is one of the areas where illicit cabs roam, namely cars that have taxi permits but operate illegally, such as charging high fees.
"Those drivers have guanxi (connections) in the government, and the rules which most taxi drivers follow don't apply to them," said driver Ma, adding that he was sick of drivers who ruined the reputation of all.
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