ONE of the two taxi drivers who were fined for refusing passengers and subsequently applied for administrative reconsideration has been confirmed to have violated relevant rules, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday.

The two taxi drivers, one surnamed Wang and the other surnamed Jiang, were each fined 1,000 yuan (US$145) by the local transport authority for refusing to take passengers from the Shenzhen airport earlier this year.

Both of them had applied for administrative reconsideration and demanded that the penalties be revoked.

Wang was reported to have refused to take a passenger to Zhangmutou Township in Dongguan City on the grounds that his electric vehicle only had 31 percent of a full charge and couldn’t make it to the destination.

According to the reconsideration results, it was ascertained that Wang’s vehicle did run the risk of not being able to get to Dongguan or to get charged in a timely manner after arrival. Additionally, Wang had informed the passenger of his low battery and the passenger never lodged a complaint.

On June 10, the transport authority decided to revoke the administrative penalty imposed on Wang.

The other taxi driver, Jiang, was said to have refused to take his passenger to Hengqin Checkpoint in Zhuhai City. According to Jiang, he was afraid that the taxi didn’t have enough power to make the round trip and it would force him into fatigued driving because he had already been driving the vehicle for seven hours.

However, the traffic authority didn’t agree with Jiang. It was revealed that his vehicle’s battery had just been replaced, so it had enough power to take the passenger to Zhuhai. Also, law enforcers at the airport explicitly told him twice that there were charging facilities in Zhuhai.

According to the Administrative Reconsideration Office of the Shenzhen Municipal Judicial Bureau, Jiang should have taken a rest instead of continuing to wait for passengers if he felt fatigued or other physical discomfort.

However, it showed that he had been waiting at the airport for about an hour before the incident.

Meanwhile, signage has been placed in the waiting area for taxis, requiring drivers of electric taxis to have a fully charged battery and not to refuse passengers based on excuses like having a low charge.

The office affirmed that the administrative punishment imposed on Jiang had been determined by the transport authority based on valid evidence and decided to maintain the judgment. (Liu Wenjin)