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Taxi firms to raise fares after petrol price hike
Nearly one week after the petrol price rose by 700 dong per litre, three taxi firms, Mai Linh, Huong Lua and Van Xuan, have announced they will raise taxi fares by 500 dong per kilometre.
Do Quoc Binh, Chairman of the Hanoi Taxi Association, confirmed the information yesterday, July 6.
Binh added that these were the first three taxi firms to propose the Hanoi Taxi Association approve fare increases after the petrol price was raised last week.
Two of the three firms, Huong Lua and Mai Linh, plan to apply the new fares this week, while Van Xuan, July 14. Binh said that the 500 dong per kilometre increase was set after considering the petrol price increase and reasonable profit for businesses.
Previously, Binh said that the market would see three taxi fare increase levels, 7, 10 and 12 percent. The 7 percent increase would be made by firms which raised fares recently already. Meanwhile, taxi firms which had not adjusted their fares after four petrol price increases would raise fares by 10 or 12 percent.
He affirmed that with the total petrol price increase of 2,700 dong per litre since the first quarter of 2009, taxi firms are not be able to suffer losses to share difficulties with consumers anymore.
“Besides the three, more taxi firms will raise their fares in the time to come,” Binh said. There are operating 104 taxi firms which are the members of the Hanoi Taxi Association.
Meanwhile, taxi firms in Da Nang say that the petrol price increase was unexpected so they have not come up with any plan to raise fares yet.
“As the petrol price has increased suddenly, we do not have any detailed plan on adjusting taxi fares yet,” said Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, Head of the Business Division of Green Taxi in Da Nang city.
T.Q.M, a taxi driver of Song Han Company, has affirmed that the number of his customers remain the same. However, M said the petrol price increase is worrying him and his colleagues. Currently, taxi drivers are working under a contract mechanism, under which they have to pay a fixed sum to their companies.
VietNamNet, VTC, VnMedia
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