Hà Nội authorities are planning a campaign to crack down on thousands of taxis that have licences from other provinces but operate in the city, the municipal Department of Transport has said. — Photo anninhthudo.vn

HÀ NỘI – Hà Nội authorities are planning a campaign to crack down on thousands of taxis that have licences from other provinces but operate in the city, the municipal Department of Transport has said.

Chief inspector of the department, Trần Đăng Hải, said that currently about 3,000 taxi cabs were operating without the required licences in Hà Nội, contributing to traffic chaos and unhealthy competition among taxi drivers.

In 2010, the department blocked taxi firms from adding to their fleets to curb the rapid increase in the number of taxis on the city’s streets. More than 17,000 taxis had already been licensed in the city by that time.

In order to skirt the law, many taxi firms registered their number plates in Hà Nội but got their taxi licence badges registered in surrounding provinces. Those taxi cabs with badges from other provinces would reportedly operate in the city instead of their registered locations.

Thus, the number of taxis operating in the city continued to rise in the past several years although the authorities ceased granting licenses to new companies, according to the department official.

These taxi cabs were from Bắc Ninh, Vĩnh Phúc, Hưng Yên, Hòa Bình, Nam Định and Hà Nam provinces, the official said.

In Bắc Ninh Province, 870 taxi cabs licensed by the province are operating in Hà Nội. Lê Ngọc Tuyển, director of the provincial Department of Transport said that police could not give penalties on these taxis as there were no regulations limiting their location of operation.

He said the department would set up an interdisciplinary team to inspect the operation of local taxi firms. He also suggested that Hà Nội’s transport sector should work with the transport departments of surrounding provinces to draft solutions.

Major Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, deputy head of Hà Nội’s Police Department’s Dissemination Unit said the high number of taxis caused traffic problems in the city, adding  work for police at key traffic points during peak hours.

"It is necessary to set penalties for taxis licensed by other provinces but operating in the city as the traffic pressure on the city is quite high," said Tuấn Anh.

Currently, roughly 600,000 cars, 5.2 million motorbikes, 100,000 electric motorbikes, and 17,000 taxis are operating on Hà Nội’s roads.

Nguyễn Thế Hùng, vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee said  the city assigned the Department of Transport to quickly set up a roadmap to give fines for this kind of violation. – VNS