Taxi fares have been reduced in 43 cities and provinces following the petrol price cut, online newspaper Bao Thanh Tra (Vietnam Inspection newspaper) reported on January 26.

Da Nang's taxi association has reportedly slashed the fares by VND2,000 (US9.6 cents) per kilometre, equal to the fare reduction in the southern province of Ho Chi Minh City, which is the largest taxi fare cut nationwide.

In the central province of Nghe An, 34 of 35 taxi firms have reduced the fares by five per cent to 25 per cent.

In the northern Hai Phong province, all taxi firms have reported an average cut of 5.5 per cent in fares.

Do Quoc Binh, chairman of Ha Noi taxi association, told Biz Hub that almost all taxi firms in the city have slashed the fare by VND1,500 (7.2 cents) per kilometre on average.

Explaining the smaller cut compared to the fare reductions in other provinces, Binh said it was very expensive for the taxi firms to adjust the fare. "They have to reclaim old tickets and print new ones, as well as reinstall the taxi fare calculators and have them checked," he pointed out.

The reports on taxi fare cuts were made by the teams inspecting transport fares, set up by the ministries of transport and finance.

The inspection teams aim to supervise the fares of transport enterprises following the Prime Minister's directive on reducing the fares before the Lunar New Year, in a meeting held in Ha Noi on January 22.

The teams will continue to inspect any transport firms that have not cut fares or reduced them slightly, and call upon them to comply in accordance with the petrol price cuts.

Since the beginning of this year, the retail prices of petrol have been reduced three times. On January 21, the prices of gasoline were fixed at VND15,670 ($0.75) per litre, while the prices of diesel were reduced to VND15,120 ($0.72) per litre.