AFTER a spate of reports of rampant rip-offs by green taxis running in Longgang and Bao’an districts, law enforcement units in the city’s transport commission seized 16 cabs Monday for using illegal pulse devices to accelerate fare meters and swindle fares out of passengers.

    Each cabbie was fined 2,000 yuan (US$299) for using such devices to disrupt fare meter signals.

    In a swift action at the Shenzhen airport and other parts of Bao’an District, law enforcement checked 491 cabs. Among them, a driver escaped by fleeing his car, some denied using modified meters and accusations of refusing rides.

    A report by the Southern Metropolis Daily on Monday said almost all the green cabs at the Shenzhen airport ripped off riders through bargaining or using modified meter devices.

    A 23-km trip from the Shenzhen airport to Fanshen Station on Metro Line 5 costs 64.8 yuan, but a pulse meter showed the charge was 75 yuan.

    When the reporter questioned the meter, the driver told the reporter to forget about it and he charged 70 yuan. He didn’t care if the reporter complained to authorities or not.

    Another cab test showed a 21.57km trip from Rainbow Department Store on Chuangye Road in Bao’an District to the airport cost the reporter 62 yuan. But Baidu maps said the fare should be 42-44 yuan and that the distance in reality was just 14-15 kilometers.

    A cab driver fled when road inspectors intercepted his cab at the intersection of Fanshen Road and Xin’an No. 5 Road in Bao’an District. An inspector found a fare accelerating device in the cab, which could be remotely controlled by the driver.

    “We wouldn’t be so unscrupulous if business was better,” a cab driver surnamed Chen, who denied installing such a device on his meter, complained.

    “I paid different prices for the same distance, the meters must have been modified and controlled by drivers. It often happens on trips starting from the Shenzhen airport,” a woman living in Bao’an complained.

    By August this year, law enforcement units stopped 444 cabs for illegal operations, 203 non-local cabs running in Shenzhen and 191 cabs with fake license plates.

    Irregularities with green cabs have existed for years and have yet to be solved even though authorities have tightened inspections.

    Shenzhen put green cabs in Longgang and Bao’an, two districts outside the former special economic zone, decades ago to improve the business and commuting environment of the two districts. The flagfall fare and cost are lower than red cabs. But in recent years, the survival of green cabs has been in jeopardy, because of low occupancy rates and competition with app-based cabs. (Han Ximin)