The Public Security Police (PSP) announced in a statement last night that they recorded 19 violations by cabbies during the mainland’s five-day Labour Day Golden Week period, which started last Saturday and ended on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the 19 regulatory breaches comprised two cases of overcharging passengers, three cases of refusing to pick up passengers, one case of long-hauling, three cases of negotiating fares with passengers, and 10 cases of jumping the queue to pick up passengers at taxi ranks.
Long-hauling refers to the act of a cabbie taking passengers on a long detour to the destination without consent in order to ramp up the fare. Macau’s taxi law defines the practice as a cabbie choosing to use a route obviously longer than normal unless requested by the passenger.
In addition, the statement said, during the five-day period the police transferred six cases of taxi drivers having been impolite to passengers to the Transport Bureau (DSAT) for follow-up.
The statement also said that the police also recorded four cases of passenger transport services provided by unlicensed taxis during the five-day period.
May Day visitors reach 68 percent of 2019’s corresponding period
Meanwhile, last night’s PSP statement also noted that Macau recorded around 490,000 visitor arrivals during the five-day mainland holiday period, a year-on-year increase of 261 percent from last year’s corresponding period, adding that the around 490,000 visitor arrivals represented 68 percent of the level recorded in the corresponding holiday period of the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
According to the statement, Macau recorded around 380,000 visitor arrivals from the mainland during the five-day period, accounting for around 76 percent of the around 490,000, while around 90,000 from Hong Kong and 5,000 from Taiwan were recorded in the period.
The PSP statement also pointed out that Macau recorded around 134,000 visitor arrivals on Sunday, the second day of the five-day Labour Day “Golden Week” period, which was the highest daily post-pandemic number of visitor arrivals.
The statement also underlined that Macau enjoyed good public security and order during the five-day holiday period.
This undated handout photo released by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows a PSP officer ticketing a taxi driver.
