The Taipei City Government on Tuesday said it has launched an investigation into fruit stall vendors at Shilin Night Market after allegations that another foreign visitor was overcharged.
The investigation was launched after a Taiwanese user on Dcard, a popular online discussion forum, said that a foreign friend of theirs was charged NT$400 for a bag of diced fruit at a stall in the market, Taipei Market Administration Office division chief Yang Chung-cheng (楊忠誠) said.
The story drew significant attention from local media on Tuesday.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
Yang said he asked police to inspect fruit stalls in the market on Monday next week, and would personally lead a group of environmental and health officials to continue the inspection on Tuesday.
The city is concerned about the impact overcharging could have on the reputation of the night market, which is one of the city’s top tourist attractions, Yang said.
There are 10 licensed fruit stalls at the market and nine other makeshift stands on the periphery, Yang said, citing statistics from his office.
Since the licensed fruit vendors are monitored by the Shilin Night Market Association and have signed a pledge not to inflate prices, the overpriced fruit allegedly purchased by the foreign visitor might have been sold at a makeshift stand, he said.
Officials have yet to identify the vendor, because information about the location, quantity or type of fruit purchased was not revealed in the online post, Yang said.
Vendors must clearly label prices, inform consumers of their unit price and weight, and confirm with buyers before slicing and packing fruit, Yang said.
There have been many allegations of vendors at the night market overcharging foreign visitors, prompting several fruit vendors to sign a pledge in 2012 to use price tags and electronic scales to ensure that pricing is more transparent.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS