Beijing to levy taxi fuel surcharge from Aug 1

Beijing will charge one yuan ($0.15) taxi fuel surcharge from August 1 following an oil price increase, the municipal commission of development and reform said on Monday. This adjustment does not apply to electric-powered taxies and online car-hailing service.

The current fuel surcharge regulation, which came into effect in 2013, aims to ease the burden of taxi drivers. It requires that for each period of three months, the surcharge will be increased or decreased one yuan per ride based on the rise or fall of the weighted cumulative average by 0.8 yuan per liter of the highest retail price of No 92 gasoline. If the change in oil price is below 0.8 yuan per liter, the fuel surcharge is not adjusted. In 2015, Beijing stopped taxi fuel surcharge after the oil price dropped.

It will take about one week for the adjustment of taxi meters from Wednesday to Aug 8. During the period, passengers will not pay the surcharge on taxies with unadjusted meters, officials said.

At the same time, department of the transportation industry will further strengthen the management of taxies, increase supervision and inspection of fuel surcharges so as to further improve the taxi service level. While the illegal price charges and willful price increases will be investigated and punished by relevant departments, The Beijing News reported.