The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed an amendment to the Railway Act (鐵路法), raising the maximum penalties for people convicted of scalping train tickets to five years imprisonment and/or a NT$3 million fine (US$94,846).
The amendment was in response to difficulties reported by people trying to buy tickets for east coast services, particularly for holidays, when tickets can quickly sell out.
Scalpers and tour group operators often use fake identities to buy additional tickets, which can result in as many as 1 million illegitimate purchases in a year, a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) representative said.
Photo: Wang Chin-yi, Taipei Times
The TRA said that from January to last month police investigated 153 cases involving people using a false identity or software to buy multiple tickets to sell for profit.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) proposed an amendment to Article 65 of the Railroad Act, which would make anyone involved with fraudulent ticket purchases or online reservations legally accountable for their actions.
Cheng’s proposal also called for increased fines.
The amendment increased fines from two to 10 times the cost of the ticket being illegally sold to five to 30 times the ticket cost.
Illegally reselling a NT$783 ticket on the Tzu-Chiang line would bring a maximum fine of NT$23,490, which TRA officials said they hope is high enough to deter would-be scalpers.
A Taitung resident surnamed Chen (陳) said he was happy with the increased fines, but said tickets would still be difficult to purchase during holidays, as many of them go to tour groups.
“From the second they go on sale at midnight it is literally a ‘flash sale,’” Chen said, adding that he hopes more tickets can be made available at peak travel times so people can get home.
“This is a supply problem that fines cannot solve,” a Hualien resident surnamed Wang (王) said. “All the people of Hualien want is to be able to buy tickets.”
The TRA said the new law adds fines for pedestrians and vehicles that trespass on railway property, including tracks, tunnels, bridges and off-limits platform areas.
Fines have been raised from between NT$1,500 and NT$7,500 to between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000, the TRA said, adding that the agency is no longer financially responsible for injury or death of passengers who fail to adhere to the rules as it was in the past.
Additional reporting by Yu Tai-lang and Chang Tsun-wei
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)