Taipei is accepting applications for increased subsidies for purchases of new electric scooters, city officials said on Thursday, adding that individual packages can be up to NT$28,800.
The Taipei Department of Environmental Affairs is offering an additional NT$8,000 per vehicle on top of its existing subsidies and others provided by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the Industrial Development Bureau, it said.
People who exchange a scooter would be eligible for up to NT$28,800 to go toward a purchase of a new electric scooter, or NT$19,000 without a trade-in, the department said.
Photo: Tsai Ssu-pei, Taipei Times
That is on top of its existing policies of NT$9,000 with a trade-in and NT$4,000 without, the department said.
A NT$10,000 subsidy from the department for people in disadvantaged groups who purchase a new electric scooter remains in place, it said.
The Taipei City Government has registered 24,360 electric scooters, or 8 percent of all scooters in the city, since it launched the subsidy program in February 2021, the department said.
Taipei is the nation’s leader in terms of promoting electric scooters, the department said.
As of Nov. 11, Taipei had more than 291 battery-swap stations, or 1.07 per square kilometer, it said, adding that its infrastructure makes the capital the most convenient for getting new power packs among the six municipalities.
The city government has waivers for fuel taxes and license fees for electric scooters, and would provide free parking for such vehicles until their total number in Taipei tops 13.5 percent of all scooters, the department said.
Moreover, electric scooter riders can use public charging stations free of charge, it said.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
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