'Over 1-Year Residency Requirement Abolished'... Busan City Eases Criteria for Private Taxi License Transfer

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City is easing the criteria for transferring individual taxi licenses to expand opportunities for young and middle-aged people to enter the individual taxi industry.

The city has amended the "Busan Metropolitan City Individual Taxi Transportation Business License Processing Regulations" to allow the transfer of individual taxi licenses to those who are registered residents of Busan as of the application date for license transfer or acquisition, effective from the 13th.

Previously, applicants wishing to acquire an individual taxi license had to have been registered residents of Busan for at least one year prior to the application date for license transfer or acquisition.

Even if young and middle-aged people from other regions moved to Busan to operate individual taxis, they had to wait one year, which hindered smooth license transfers and acquisitions, and related complaints have been continuously raised.

The one-year residency requirement was established in a time before navigation systems were widespread, prioritizing geographical familiarity.

Currently, most taxi drivers operate along designated routes displayed on taxi call apps or use navigation-recommended routes, leading to ongoing criticism that the rule does not reflect reality.

To resolve this issue, the city has prepared the "Amendment to the Busan Metropolitan City Individual Taxi Transportation Business License Processing Regulations," relaxing residency requirements to allow license acquisition if the applicant is currently a registered resident of Busan as of the application date.

With the relaxed transfer criteria taking effect from the 13th, it is expected that the influx of young taxi drivers actively using taxi call platforms such as Dongbaek Taxi, introduced by Busan City last December, will be promoted, fostering changes in the workforce structure of the taxi industry.

This is also expected to contribute to improving safety issues and service quality deterioration caused by the severe aging of the taxi industry workforce.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, "We will continue to prepare and implement various policies to revitalize the taxi industry, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and strive to improve the quality of taxi services."