Cops crack down on illegal taxies in Qingpu

Qingpu district police have launched a new campaign against unlicensed cabs that employ counterfeit license plates copied from legitimate taxies, police said Wednesday.

The vehicles, which are often referred to as cloned taxies, threaten the safety of both passengers and other vehicles because their phony plates make it easier for their drivers to disregard traffic laws and rip off customers without getting caught.

Unlicensed taxi drivers can speed or run red lights because they won't get punished if they get caught by a traffic camera, according to an officer surnamed Jiang with the Qingpu District Public Security Bureau.

Qingpu police caught an unlicensed taxi driver driving drunk on July 24, according to a district police press release.

Many unlicensed taxi drivers have not been properly trained, said an official with the Shanghai Municipal Traffic Law Enforcement Headquarters, which oversees taxies in the city. They might not be qualified to drive a taxi and may lack professional ethics.

Some drivers try to pass on counterfeit money or steal a passenger's transportation card by swapping it with an empty or expired one, the official said. Moreover, if a passenger has a dispute with an unlicensed taxi driver, it is nearly impossible to seek restitution.

"It is difficult to distinguish between a legal and illegal taxi because they look so much alike," Jiang told the Global Times. "Most passengers won't notice a problem until they've already been cheated."

Authorities will impound any unlicensed taxi discovered in the city. Drivers have to pay a fine of 50,000 yuan ($7,928) to get the vehicle back.