EDITORIAL - A long overdue campaign

After receiving 650 calls and 16,719 text messages complaining about abusive taxi drivers over a two-week period, the Department of Transportation and Communications has vowed to impose discipline in the industry. Henceforth, DOTC officials promised, fines would be imposed and driver’s licenses and taxi franchises suspended or revoked for offenses such as overcharging, using defective or tampered meters, and unreasonable refusal to convey passengers.

Let’s hope the DOTC can deliver on its promise. Such complaints have been aired for many years, with little change in the way taxi drivers conduct their business. Discipline is possible only when taxi operators and drivers risk being booted out of lucrative routes if they fail to comply with the rules, such as at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The poor discipline is encouraged by poor enforcement of regulations. If the DOTC warns taxi operators and drivers that they must comply with regulations, it should be prepared to enforce the rules and carry out its threat.

Tourism officials should also be interested in seeing this campaign push through. In some of the country’s neighbors, old taxicabs have been relegated to minor routes far from international airports or else banned from major cities. If the quality of taxicabs cannot be upgraded, the country can make up for it in the quality of service. Taxi drivers are among the first to greet travelers in this country, and the welcome must be enjoyable for any visitor. Tourists will remember discourtesy and dishonesty among taxi drivers.

For the DOTC to carry out the campaign, it needs to receive complaints. The department’s Action Center has Hotline 7890 for such complaints, which can also be phoned in or relayed by text to Action Center Smart at 09192227462 and Globe at 09172470385. Those numbers must be prominently displayed at airports and in every taxicab. Once received, the complaint must be quickly acted upon and discipline imposed. The DOTC must make sure its warning does not turn out to be an empty threat. This campaign, long overdue, must not be another flash in the pan.