Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 December 3 - 9 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP policy on taxi improvement attracts attention from industrial organization

The Japanese Communist Party’s proposal regarding measures to curb excessive competition among taxi companies has attracted attention from the taxi business industry.

Taxi companies have been suffering from fierce competition for years due to the government deregulation policy.

In the early 2000s, the government relaxed regulations on taxi business operations. After that, the number of taxis was greatly increased and the amount of revenue per cab drastically decreased. Taxi drivers are forced to work excessively long hours with low wages. It is said that this harsh working condition increases the risk of traffic accidents.

Under this circumstance, a law to limit the number of taxis was passed in the Diet last year. Under the law, the transport minister can order taxi service companies to reduce the number of vehicles in use in areas where the minister regards the taxi service supply to far exceed demand.

The law came into effect in January this year, but the ministry has yet to even check on oversupply areas. This is because the Regulatory Reform Council in its statement in June protested against tightening of regulations on the taxi industry.

The JCP argues that the government should properly control the number of taxies based on the law and work to improve the working conditions of taxi drivers.