Court: "Metered Fare Means Legitimate Charge... It Is an Unfair Fare"
A court has ruled that the cancellation of a taxi driver's license, who was caught overcharging foreign passengers three times within a year, was lawful.
According to Yonhap News on the 8th, Judge Seo Kyung-min of the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 4 ruled against taxi driver A, who filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Seoul mayor's decision to revoke his taxi driving license.
Previously, A was caught overcharging a foreign passenger in April 2022 and received a 'first warning.' In August of the same year, he was again found to have overcharged a foreign passenger and was given a 'second penalty of a 30-day license suspension.'
Then, in February last year, while dropping off a foreign man and woman at Incheon International Airport, he entered an additional 16,600 won on the meter fare of 55,700 won, making the meter show 72,300 won. Of this, 6,600 won was a highway toll, and the remaining 10,000 won was an extra amount entered.
However, A filed an administrative lawsuit against the license cancellation. He claimed that the additional 10,000 won entered on the meter was a 'tip given by the passenger' and therefore a legitimate fare. He also argued that since he entered the extra fare into the meter himself, it did not constitute 'charging more or less than the meter fare' as stipulated in the Seoul City 'Traffic Guidance and Enforcement Manual.'
The court did not accept this argument. The bench stated, "It is difficult to consider the additional amount entered on the meter as a legitimate tip."
Furthermore, the court said, "'Meter fare' as defined in the 'Traffic Guidance and Enforcement Manual' corresponds to a legitimate fare," and "Even if the amount equivalent to the meter fare is formally received, entering an unfair fare on the meter and receiving payment clearly constitutes 'charging an unfair fare or fee' under the Taxi Development Act," concluding that the license cancellation was justified.
Additionally, the court noted, "A can retake the qualification exam after one year and regain the license to operate a private taxi," and "The public interest in contributing to the convenience of transportation for citizens and foreign visitors and enhancing social trust outweighs the disadvantages A may suffer from this decision."
Earlier in 2022, a Hong Kong YouTuber studying in Korea, also named A, sparked controversy by sharing a story on YouTube about almost being overcharged by a taxi. The YouTuber, who has over 100,000 subscribers, recently uploaded a video titled 'The Receipt from Cheongju to Incheon Airport is My Benefactor.' In the video, A hailed a taxi on the street to go to Sky Park on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, and received a receipt showing 23,800 won after 5 minutes. The receipt shown in the video indicated that the taxi driver had added an extra 20,000 won himself.
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