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| A growing number of foreign visitors to Korea are falling victim to illegal taxi practices in Seoul, according to the city government. gettyimagesbank |
By Ko Dong-hwan
An American traveler in Korea hopped in a taxi at Seoul Express Bus Terminal in the city's southern Seocho District on Jan. 25, to get to Incheon International Airport. Arriving at the destination, the meter showed the fare was 57,700 won ($46) but the driver charged an extra 11,200 won because he claimed he crossed city borders.
But the extra charge was illegal: because the airport is inside a "common business zone" shared by the cities of Seoul, Incheon, Goyang, Gwangmyeong, Gimpo and Bucheon and exempt from the country's taxi operation policy that allows taxi drivers to charge customers an extra fee for traveling to other cities. Seoul Metropolitan Government's Taxi Policy Division fined the driver 200,000 won.
Another taxi driver on Feb. 9 took a German traveler to the airport, starting from Sinchon Station on Seoul Metro Line 2. The day before, the driver offered the German a flat rate of 60,000 won, to which the German agreed. The driver was later fined 400,000 won by a district office in Seoul for not charging his customer based on the taxi's meter.
A driver from a corporate taxi company on Jan. 25 was contacted by a Vietnamese person in Yongin who wanted to get to Incheon airport. The driver drove to Yongin to get the passenger and then drive them to the airport, charging 100,000 won. He was however fined 400,000 won by a city district office for picking up the customer from an area where the taxi company wasn't supposed to operate in.
These three cases are examples of some of the most common violations of taxi fares.
The Seoul city government has launched a special investigation to rein in such practices.
Incidents such as these are on the rise as foreign visitors to the country have started increasing in number with the removal of pandemic travel restrictions, including most nationwide social distancing regulations earlier this week. According to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, visitors to the country in the first two months of this year counted over 181,000, a 46 percent increase from the same period last year when it recorded almost 124,000. The figure is expected to rise further this year, according to the city government.
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| On the left, an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government's transportation policy division, right, speaks with foreign travelers at Incheon International Airport while conducting a survey on illegal taxi practices in the country in early April. On the right, another official from the same division under the city government speaks with a taxi driver about illegal taxi practices, also in early April. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
The city government didn't carry out a special investigation targeting the illegal practices of taxi drivers in 2020 and the first 10 months of 2021, when the country's taxi industry was suffering from a shortage of customers and the job security of taxi drivers was threatened.
It carried out a survey of foreign travelers from last November to March this year to check how often they experienced irregularities committed by taxi drivers. The authority, with 18 officials fluent in English, Japanese and Chinese, conducted more than 2,800 interviews with foreign travelers at airports. The authority confirmed 139 illegal cases from respondents during the period.
In addition, the survey showed that 117 of these cases, or 84 percent, involved taxi drivers illegally overcharging an additional 20 percent for crossing city borders. Over 12 percent (17) of cases involved drivers picking up foreign passengers in areas where they weren't supposed to provide service. In four cases, drivers didn't use their meters to calculate fares for their foreign passengers.
The survey also showed that Incheon International Airport is where most of the irregularities occurred, in 94 percent of cases. The airport involves most of the illegal taxi practices because Gimpo International Airport, another major airport located in Seoul, has suspended all international flights since March 2020, according to the city authority.
According to the country's laws on the taxi transportation business and operation of private transportation services, drivers caught using illegal practices are subject to fines. Drivers getting caught three times illegally overcharging customers get their medallions suspended.
The Transportation Policy Division under the city government's City Transportation Office said it will concentrate on Incheon International Airport to monitor for illegal taxi practices. The authority also plans to expand the group of officials surveying foreign travelers from 18 to 25, and monitor not just Incheon airport but also city spots popular to foreign tourists like Daehangno, Mount Nam and historic hanok villages.
City Transportation Office Chief Paik Ho said he will continue monitoring for illegal taxi practices so that the increasing foreign visitors to Korea won't experience any inconvenience in using taxis. He also said he will share the cases of illegal taxi practices with taxi operating companies as well so that the industry can police itself.
