Department of Transportation

Taipei City Public Transportation Office (the Office) expressed that taxi fares for Taipei City, New Taipei City and Keelung City will be simultaneously adjusted starting on October 1, 2015 (Thursday) at 0:00am. Taxi fare calculation will include an initial fare of NT$70 for the first 1.25km, NT$5 for every additional 200 meters for the following driving distance, and NT$5 waiting charge for every 80 seconds of stop or idling taxi waiting time. In addition, the time period from 11:00pm to 6:00am of the next day will be the night markup period when an additional NT$20 will be collected for each trip (initial fare NT$90 for the first 1.25km; in case the driving time falls within the night markup period, taxi passenger’s "boarding time" shall prevail). During the Chinese New Year holidays, an additional NT$20 for each trip will be collected during the period from 2 days prior to Chinese New Year’s Eve to the last day of the holiday period (if the holiday period is shorter than 10 days, the 10-day period will be counted backward from the last day of the holiday period).
The Office also indicated that the current taxi fare rate was approved for implementation on November 1, 2007, and has not been adjusted for over 7 years. To reasonably reflect taxi operating costs and take consumers’ interests into account, taxi fares will be adjusted. However, the initial taxi fare will remain NT$70 for the first 1.25km, and only the following taxi driving distance and waiting time during stop or idling period will be adjusted, which is advantageous for taxi drivers to get short-distance passengers and avoid the burden of a substantial increase in taxi fares on consumers.
In addition, the Office pointed out that this new taxi fare adjustment involves the changing of charge meters. To prevent consumer disputes and observe the policy of new charge meters promulgated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the new charge meter will have some new functions, including taxi passenger GPS boarding/alighting positioning, national highway charging calculation and printing receipts. Taxi drivers shall install new charge meters when implementing new taxi fares. Nevertheless, since replacement and inspection of charge meters cannot be completed in a short period of time, taxi fares will be collected according to the old charge meter during the transitional period. It means that taxi drivers can charge taxi fares only based on old charge meters if a taxi has not installed a new charge meter by October 1st. Moreover, if taxis have installed new charge meters, taxi drivers are required to have their taxis inspected at the Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection (the Bureau), MOEA. Please consult with the Bureau for related details of inspection time, venue and method (Tel: 2834-8456, Division 7, Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection, MOEA).
The Office concluded by reminding the public that since the new taxi fare adjustment also includes the replacement of a new charge meter, taxi drivers or passengers may not be very clear about related operations during the initial implementation period. Therefore, the public may contact the Office with any question in regard to the new charge meter or fare collection of taxis. Taxi passengers shall write down license plate number as well as time and location of taking the taxi to facilitate subsequent tracing. In addition, taxi drivers are advised to have new charge meters installed and inspected at the Bureau as soon as possible. Taxi drivers shall truthfully collect fares according to the new charge meter (fares shall be collected based on the old charge meter if the new one is not installed yet) and never overcharge passengers. Once an overcharge made by a taxi driver is proved to be true, a penalty will be imposed against the taxi driver pursuant to the provisions of the Highway Act.

2015-10-06