SEOUL TO LIFT RESTRICTIONS ON TAXIS

[Anchor Lead]

Catching a cab late at night in Seoul is quite a challenge. To provide more taxis during the year-end holiday season, the Seoul metropolitan government has decided to temporarily lift the mandatory operating restriction on privately owned taxis, and more corporate taxis will be supplied during night hours.

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Back in April, when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, catching a cab late at night was a challenge.

[Soundbite] Lim Hyun-joo(Seoul Resident(May 2022)) : "I was about to get into a cab when the driver suddenly turned me down by saying he just got a call."

Now six months later, the situation hasn't changed much. The Seoul metropolitan government will lift the mandatory operating restriction on privately owned taxis from Thursday. The restriction, which has been in place for 45 years, requires private cabbies to take a day off after two days of work. With the changes, they will be allowed to work daily, but will have to split into ten groups with three or four groups working on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays and Fridays they will be required to alternate depending on whether their license plates are odd- or even-numbered.

[Soundbite] Baek Ho(Seoul Metropolitan Gov’t) : "Being unable to catch a cab when you really need it makes it even more difficult to use cabs. We will expand taxi supply."

The taxi sector expects more cabs to be available at nighttime as drivers will be permitted to work on more days.

[Soundbite] Park Jong-gap(Seoul Private Taxi Association) : "An increase in supply will be a huge plus. Restricting taxi operation was not right in the first place."

More corporate taxis will be supplied at night. 500 more drivers will be hired by these companies. The Seoul metropolitan government expects the measures to help increase the number of taxis operating daily by seven thousand. Fares are to be raised from December. The nighttime surcharge will apply from 10 p.m., two hours earlier than now, and will be increased by up to 40 percent. However, some point out that hiring new drivers won't be easy, as taxi operation is limited at nighttime, and the drivers' remuneration is low compared to the high labor intensity.

[Soundbite] Lee Sung-woo(Corporate taxi company executive) : "Nighttime taxis are only in high demand in the Gangnam or Hongdae areas from midnight to 1-2 a.m. In Eunpyeong-gu or Seodaemun-gu districts, there are plenty of empty cabs."

The Seoul metropolitan government plans to enforce the measure through the end of the year to see its effectiveness before deciding on whether to extend it.