Lawmakers yesterday urged the Tourism Bureau to step up its crackdown on operators of illegal daily room rentals, including those posted on the popular online platform Airbnb.
The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday reviewed amendments to the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) proposed by the bureau and lawmakers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) focused their questions on the bureau’s proposed amendments to Article 55 to Article 55-1 of the act, which would impose harsher penalties on illegal hotel and bed and breakfast operators.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
These include a fine of up to NT$2 million (US$64,714) and repeated fines if the illegal act persists.
Operators of online platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com would also face up to NT$2 million in fines for posting information about illegal accommodation and would be asked to remove the content.
Airbnb was founded on the concept of a sharing economy, where people put extra rooms in their houses up for rent, Lin said.
However, the New York and Florida state governments have launched a large-scale crackdown on illegal operators posting ads on the platform, as it has severely disrupted the rental housing market and affected the businesses of legal hotel and bed and breakfast operators, he said.
Airbnb has 35,000 daily room rentals on its list for Taiwan, including about 10,000 in Taipei, he said.
“The Web site shows that four people each have more than 50 rooms available to rent and six other people each have more than 40 rooms to rent. Do you know anyone who has 50 rooms to ‘share’ with other people? Is this how a ‘sharing economy’ works?” Lin asked.
“This shows that some group are abusing online platforms to run illegal hotel businesses,” he added.
The bureau should also ask Airbnb to establish a subsidiary in Taiwan, Lin said, adding that it should let the platform operator know the nation is ruled by law.
The government should crack down on illegal daily room rentals, or many young people would not be able to find affordable rooms to rent, he said.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said that the proposed amendments are designed to raise the penalties against illegal operators and the bureau is collecting public opinions about the proposal.
“We have told platform operators that we hope the information posted on the platforms belongs to legal hoteliers and bed and breakfast operators,” Chi said. “This way consumers need not worry that they might end up with an illegal rental that is not regulated by the law.”
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS