Officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party decided Friday to push ahead with the full implementation of a salary system for drivers at taxi companies as part of measures to support the local taxi industry.
The move is also seen as a way to deal with a backlash from taxi drivers that was sparked by the planned launch of a carpool service by IT giant Kakao Corp.
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(Yonhap) |
On Thursday, Kakao, which earlier kicked off a pilot run of the service, postponed its official release, originally slated for Monday, after a taxi driver committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest.
The officials, including DP leader Lee Hae-chan, its chief policymaker Kim Tae-nyeon and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mi, also agreed to review a set of measures to support and develop the industry, including the implementation of a salary system for taxi drivers.
"We plan to come up with an immediate measure to have taxi drivers receive salaries in a legal way," Jeon Hyun-heui, a lawmaker of the ruling party, said.
In South Korea, drivers hired by a taxi company are expected to submit a fixed amount of income to the company on a daily basis and keep the rest, an arrangement that causes worry about unstable income if customer numbers dwindle.
Asked about the speculation that a taxi driver's monthly salary could reach about 2.5 million won (around $2,212), Jeon expressed an expectation that it would be more than that.
She also said, "We are not discussing an option to raise taxi fares," and took a dim view of the prospect that implementation of a salary system for taxi drivers would lead to a hike in taxi fares. (Yonhap)
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