More than 100 Taiwan Taxi (
The taxi drivers demanded that Taipei's Bureau of Transportation Director Lin Chih-ying (
THI Consultants pooled paid-in capital of NT$250 million to establish the cab group in June 2002, offering the nation's first high-tech taxi service using GPS technology.
But a financial crisis erupted in late March and THI Consultants halted the GPS service on March 26, citing the "relocation of transmission stations."
It has not resumed the service.
Taiwan Taxi's drivers say they have suffered dramatic income losses and demanded that the company return payments of more than NT$30,000 to each of them, which included deposits and GPS devices installed in their cabs.
While the causes of THI Consultants' financial difficulties are still unknown, the high cost of satellite communications and an insufficient number of taxis joining the group could have been an important factor, Lin said.
Communications with call centers and wireless services cost NT$2 million and NT$1.5 million per month respectively, Vincent Wu (吳毓耕), a former employee of THI Consultants, said yesterday.
No one from THI Consultants was available for a comment before press time yesterday.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported that the company has debts of more than NT$100 billion.
Lin said that he was not in a position to mediate in the dispute, and suggested that drivers negotiate with THI Consultants by means of a self-help organization.
"This is why we established a new company last month to safeguard drivers' interests and rights," said Chen Yu-chou (陳玉洲), general manager of Taiwan Taxi Co (台灣大車隊公司), which was established on April 1.
The new company has recruited 1,200 drivers from the original group and would like to attract more members, Chen said at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
Chen said the company has hired lawyers to deal with the dispute.
Set up on capital of NT$10 million, Chen said the new company was "completely independent of THI Consultants" and that all driver members were shareholders."
He said the company would be operated with "financial transparency" in an effort to safeguard drivers' interests.
To differentiate itself from the original service group, Lin said they added the two Chinese characters meaning "company" (
A cartoon drawing of a panda forms part of the new company's logo, Chen said.
The company has offered GPS services in its new fleet since April 23 in the hope of consolidating the original customer base.
Wu, currently Taiwan Taxi Co's spokesman, discounted concerns that the new company will also end up with financial difficulties.
He said the basic costs involving call centers and wireless services would be lowered to increase profit margins.
"We want passengers to enjoy reliable services and drivers to place their trust in our company," Wu said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure