Shanghai Cracks Down on Taxi Drivers who Refuse Passengers

By Bridget O'Donnell, August 28, 2017

Could the frustrating phenomenon of empty cabs ignoring potential customers soon be a thing of the past?

According to Shanghai Daily, it very well might be.

While the practice of "cherry picking" passengers is considered a traffic violation, it often happens anyway at areas with high volumes of people, including tourist spots like the Bund, train stations and airports.

Shanghai's traffic law enforcement team says that nearly a third of 3,248 complaints issued against the taxi industry in the first half 2017 were related to cherry picking.

In response to the problem, transportation authorities issued a notice in July urging cab firms to address cherry picking, overcharging and taking detours.

But it's difficult to enforce the rules against cherry picking. While passengers who have been overcharged can prove it with receipts, people who have been passed over by drivers who refuse to take them are required to provide harder to obtain evidence — namely, audio or video records — to prove their claims.

In practice, these higher requirements for evidence collection have made it harder for authorities to punish violators. Last month, for example, authorities received 402 complaints related to cherry picking, but only 23 people submitted sufficient evidence to back up their claims.

And by the end of last month, only 38 of a total 3,650 complaints of cherry picking received this year had come with audio or video evidence. Of the 38 complaints investigated by authorities, 24 were dismissed due to "invalid evidence."

[Image via CE]