Shanghai authorities are determined to curb the growing problem of unlicensed taxis, an official said yesterday.

Cai Jinyan, deputy chief of the Shanghai urban transport administrative law enforcement general brigade, told China Daily that a new crackdown on unlicensed taxis will start very soon.

Since the unit was formed in January 2006, 66,000 unlicensed taxies have been caught, 18,000 this year, he said.

The campaign comes in response to the complaints by legitimate taxi drivers, whose representatives had talks with the mayor of Shanghai, Han Zheng, on Tuesday.

Jiang Yumei, one of the representatives, told Han: "When night falls, there are 'black' taxis everywhere on Pingliang and Tongbei roads and there is no authority to stop them.

"But when we ply there, security guards tell us to leave, because they are paid by the illegal taxis," she was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.

Some drivers also complained about illegal taxis having the same license plate numbers as them. They jump red lights and park anywhere, but are never prosecuted.

"Once my colleague was driving in Pudong, and he was stopped for a traffic violation that allegedly occurred in Puxi," Lu Shibin of the Haibo Taxi Co, said.

Hong Xuekang, who has worked as a taxi driver for 13 years for Bashi Group, said: "One day, a customer who had already boarded my taxi was approached by an unlicensed driver to take his taxi for 1 yuan less."

Gu Haibin, who has been a taxi driver for six years, said: "The intersection of Dalian and Changyang roads has become a forbidden zone. If we dare to seek business there, the unlicensed drivers assault us."

Han promised to address the concerns of the taxi drivers.

"We will study your complaints, and create ways to solve them quickly," he said.

(China Daily November 20, 2008)