2 drivers of illegal taxi cabs detained

By Li Aoxue (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-09 07:21

Two men have been detained and 14 unlicensed taxis have been impounded following a month-long campaign at Beijing Capital Airport, police said on Monday.

Bai Yu, a spokesman for the airport police, said 72 illegal cabs were identified and two drivers were detained.

The men may be sent to a re-education camp, he said.

The crackdown on the illegal activity was initiated after unlicensed cabs began returning to the airport after the Olympics, he said.

Also, the number of cabs at the airport tends to increase on the approach to the Spring Festival, he said.

Patrol cars and plainclothes officers were used to identify the illegal cabs, Bai said.

One driver was detained after trying to charge a foreign passenger $20 for a journey that should have cost 10 yuan ($1.50), the police said in a release sent to China Daily.

"Foreigners are easy prey as they don't know the routes or the fares," Bai said.

People arriving at the airport should take only those taxis working from the designated stops, he said.

"Unlicensed taxis do not use meters, or they use fake ones, and will try to cheat passengers into paying more than they should," he said.

Zhao Jun, a criminal lawyer, said police can detain unlicensed taxi drivers if they are caught more than once.

"Unlicensed taxi drivers' violate public order, and they can be detained and sent for re-education if they are caught," he said.

It is illegal for the owners of unlicensed, private cars to engage in profit-making activities, and those who do face fines of up to 20,000 yuan, the Beijing public transport administration said.

Wang Dayong, who has worked as a taxi driver in Beijing for the past 13 years, said he supports the recent crackdown.

"The police are also protecting our interests, as unlicensed cabs are affecting our income," he said.

Rashid Amin, a Bangladeshi who has been studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing for the past six years, said he would never take an unlicensed taxi.

"I know which cabs don't have a license, and I won't use them," he said.