SHENZHEN is considering putting an end to auctioning the operating rights of taxi license plates, which has been in place for nearly 30 years.

    Under the bidding rules, taxi license plates go to the highest bidders.

    The first round of online solicitation of public opinions about ending the auction of taxi operating rights recently finished, and the city legislature is expected to review the proposal in the first half of this year.

    Taxi license plates in Shenzhen had been granted free of charge after passing administrative approval before 1988, when there were more than 2,000 taxis in the city. After learning from Hong Kong’s successful practices, Shenzhen started to auction the license plates in 1988 and the operating life of all the plates was set at 50 years.

    The practice was officially implemented after the country’s first regulation of taxi management took effect in Shenzhen in 1995. Any individual or work unit can bid for a taxi license plate and will become the holder of the plate after paying the fees and finishing the registration process.

    Taxi fares are inevitably higher in Shenzhen due to the high auction prices, industry experts say.

    The General Office of the State Council issued a guidance last year, suggesting that the operating rights of all new taxis be free of charge.

    There are currently about 15,000 taxis in Shenzhen.

    Insiders of the city’s taxi industry said that taxi fares would be lower if the operating rights for taxis in Shenzhen were granted free of charge. They also pointed out that the government-set unified fares of the taxi industry were also responsible for the weakening competitiveness of the taxi industry.

    “How can we expect to compete with app-based car services if our fares are higher and we are not flexible in setting the fares,” said a taxi driver. (SD News)