Taxi services in Taipei will be subject to a surcharge before and during the Lunar New Year holiday, the city’s Public Transportation Office said yesterday.
From Jan. 23 to Feb. 1, passengers will be charged NT$20 per journey in addition to the standard fare, the office said.
Lunar New Year’s Day falls on Jan. 28.
Taxi drivers will be required to use a function in their new meters that automatically adds the surcharge to the fare and directly displays the total on the meter, the office said.
Drivers who fail to use this feature as requested and those still using old meters are not eligible to ask for the additional payment, it said.
The office urged passengers to ask for a receipt when taking a taxi in the city and report drivers who overcharge.
A similar surcharge is likely to apply to taxis in New Taipei City, Keelung and other areas across the nation during the Lunar New Year holiday.
In other news, Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet Air is to launch a new route on Jan. 15, linking Ho Chi Minh City with Taichung, which is seeking to promote the city as an operations base for low-cost carriers.
VietJet Air said it would offer four flights a week — Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
VietJet Air launched flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Taipei in 2014, and has expanded its services to include the Hanoi-Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City-Tainan and Ho Chi Minh City-Kaohsiung routes.
The Taichung City Government said it has been in talks with local and foreign budget airlines to expand air links with other cities in Asia and boost tourism in central Taiwan in line with the government’s “new southbound policy.”
Taichung plans to showcase its airport as a potential base of operations for regional budget airlines.
Taichung Airport offers domestic routes and flights to Hong Kong, Macau, China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
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