VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Transport has told 11 taxi companies that operate at HCM City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport to improve services and distribute namecards with complaint hotline numbers to passengers, especially during the holiday period during Tet (Lunar New Year).

Taxi companies operating at Tan Son Nhat Airport now have to distribute namecards with complaint hotline numbers to passengers to prevent taxi drivers cheating. (Photo: VNS)

Most of the passenger complaints said that many drivers were not using metres and instead were trying to negotiate a price far above the normal fare.

If drivers used the taxi metre, they often lengthened the route in order to charge more, they said.

According to city authorities, many drivers are not informing their companies about passenger belongings left in their taxis, and are stealing them.

Police Lieutenant Tran Thanh Sang in Tan Binh District's Ward 2, who has managed many cases of driver theft, said most drivers pretended to have no idea about the losses.

Many drivers had even lied and accused other passengers of seizing the properties of previous passengers, Sang added.

Due to the strict supervision by the airport security team and the traffic inspection teams at the airport, many drivers have taken passengers outside the airport, turned off the metre, and then made a deal with them, according to Phan Le Hoan, director of Tan Son Nhat Terminal Operation Centre.

Drivers even transfered passengers to other taxis without passengers' permission, Hoan said.

Worse till, many drivers assaulted passengers both verbally and physically if they did not get what they wanted from passengers, he noted.

"It's very difficult for agencies to solve these issues since all of the cases occur in the taxis, and only the taxi drivers and passengers are there," he said.

The Japanese Business Association has asked the HCM City People's Committee and the city's Department of Transport to order the taxi companies to improve their services.

Not all of the passenger complaints, most of which have come from foreigners and Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese), are reported to police.

Only 10 complaints were reported by passengers last year, but the real number was much higher, according to Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Pham Cong Nghia, police chief of Tan Binh District's Ward 2.

New rules

The Department of Transport has asked traffic inspection teams to work closely with airport security forces to oversee taxi operations at the airport, especially during peak hours (10am-12am; 4:30pm-6pm; and 10:30pm-12pm).

The department has also asked taxi businesses to check drivers' histories and records carefully before employing them to ensure that drivers are qualified and have good character.

Taxi companies have also been told not to hire drivers whose at-the-airport operation licences have been withdrawn by the authorities.

The namecard to be provided by all the 11 taxi companies that operate at the airport must include the hotline number of each taxi company so that passengers can report problems with drivers.

Passengers can contact the company's hotline number displayed on the taxis (Vinataxi: 38150111; Taxi Vinasun: 38272727; Taxi Khai Hoan Mon: 0903870251; Sai Gon Air Taxi: 38118118 or 38666666).

Nguyen Thi Kim Yen of Vinataxi Customer Service Department told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper that taxi companies should install GPS trackers on their cabs.

The trackers can help companies follow and supervise the operations of drivers.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News