Beijing planners move to make fare deal on taxis

In a move to integrate Beijing's fragmented taxi industry and motivate taxi drivers, the Beijing municipal government will implement a new regulation on hotlines, the Internet and mobile apps from June 1.

The regulation will raise the current fee from 3 to 8 yuan for each booking of four hours or more before using a taxicab. An immediate booking - a call less than 30 minutes in advance - will cost 5 yuan.

The regulation also stipulates that Beijing's transportation authority will establish a uniform system to provide round-the-clock booking services through hotlines, a website and mobile apps.

Beijing currently has two major taxi hotlines - 96103 and 96106 - run by separate companies.

The Beijing Transportation Commission noted earlier that relatively few passengers now book taxis through hotlines, only about 30,000 rides out of more than a million each day.

Some taxi drivers told reporters that their major concerns are traffic jams and passengers failing to keep appointments.

But Jin Li, general manager at the 96103 call center, said the new regulation will encourage taxi companies and drivers to improve reservation services.

Jin said some companies have now made compulsory requirements for drivers to respond to bookings.

The companies will also give rewards to drivers who offer the service.

"Each month we will give gasoline debit cards and other awards to the 100 drivers who accept the most bookings," said Jin.

Mobile apps

But today more customers are turning to mobile apps rather than traditional telephone hotlines.

With a few touches on the mobile phone screen, a passenger can send message to nearby taxi drivers who use the same apps. Cabbies usually arrive in a short time to pick passengers.

It has been working well, especially in populated areas and during rush hours, said online reports.

The Beijing municipal government plans to introduce its own booking app covering the city's 66,000 cabs, according to local media.

Like existing apps, the government software will enable passengers to check for empty cabs nearby and contact drivers.

Analysts said that the government will not develop an all-new system. Instead, it will cooperate to add more complete data to the existing apps.

Some taxi drivers said that there are some advantages in the government approach, covering all taxis in the city and providing the most comprehensive information to passengers.

The government can rely on its unified system to guarantee successful bookings by implementing compulsory measures.

According to Liu Xiaoming, director of Beijing Transportation Commission, the regulator will also impose new standards on existing apps already in use.

The popular app Didi Taxi - which now covers 21,000 taxis - is cooperating with the 96106 call center. The partnership is expected to expand to include 43,000 taxis, 65 percent of the capital city's total.

Some experts have questioned whether the city government should be involved in the operation of taxi booking apps, saying it should instead just provide more data to taxi companies or software developers while implementing more regulations to standardize the process.