A series of new measures, including regulations preventing landlords from overcharging their tenants and a raised minimum fee for driving schools, are set to take effect tomorrow.
Based on the new standardized lease contract, which was approved by the Consumer Protection Committee in February, a tenant should pay a deposit of no more than two months’ rent.
To prevent landlords from overcharging for electricity, the contract stipulates that the electricity charge be calculated based on the meter readings for each room, and the price of per kilowatt hour must not exceed NT$6.41, which is the price charged to high electricity users in summer.
Damage to houses or facilities should be fixed by landlords, unless caused by the tenant, the contract says.
Tenants should give landlords at least one month’s notice before terminating their lease, and vice versa. Should any party fail to do so, the other party should be given compensation equivalent to one month’s rent, it says.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would allow driving schools to raise the fee for courses from NT$8,000 to NT$10,000 due to increasing costs.
The cap for the fee remains NT$13,500, the ministry said, adding that driving schools have not adjusted their fees in 12 years.
From tomorrow, Aborigines aged 40 to 60 would qualify for one free hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening.
Previously, those who qualified had to be aged 45 to 53.
New Taipei City residents aged 65 and older will be able to use the points stored in their Elderly Card to board public buses and Taipei’s MRT metropolitan railway system.
Each month, senior residents in New Taipei City receive 480 points their Elderly Cards.
Taoyuan is also launching a trial using technology to reduce the noise created by modified motor vehicles.
Any of noise-producing vehicles would be videotaped if they exceed a certain sound level, the Taoyuan City Government said, adding that the owners of those vehicles would be notified that they must go for an inspection at the motor vehicle office.
Those who do not appear or fail the inspection would be fined NT$1,800 to NT$3,600, it said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with