Japan stepping up surveillance of unlicensed taxis

Tokyo [Japan],: Japan is stepping up surveillance of unlicensed taxis at the Narita airport near Tokyo as a spike in the number of arrivals increased the demand for transport, Kyodo News reported.

Transport ministry officials handed out hundreds of fliers in English and Chinese to arriving international visitors in early November at the airport in Chiba Prefecture. They stated: “Beware! Unlicensed taxis are illegal and unsafe!”

The fliers urge people to check the colour of vehicle license plates as licensed taxis have green plates or plates with green frames. Unlicensed taxis have the white plates of private vehicles.

They also warned that passengers may not be covered by insurance if injured while riding in an unauthorized taxi.

Head of the transport ministry’s Chiba branch office, Mitsuteru Yanase, said: “To ensure safe travel, we want travellers to use (authorized) taxis and hired vehicles that are well managed.”

Unlike overseas where ride-hailing operators, including Uber Technologies Inc. and Grab Holdings Inc., are widely used, Japan in principle bans such services that enable drivers of private vehicles to serve as unofficial taxis.

Uber and other apps are available in Japan, but they can only be used to call licensed cabs, according to Kyodo News.

Recently, against the backdrop of an acute shortage of taxi drivers in rural areas and tourist spots, calls to open up the market grew within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including from former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also expressed willingness in October to address the problem and vowed to discuss allowing ride-hailing services to operate.

The transport ministry is, however, cautious and the taxi industry remains opposed to introducing competing services, citing safety concerns linked to the absence of rules on who would be responsible for vehicle maintenance and checking drivers’ health.