Not all taxis to charge new fares tomorrow

Higher taxi fares come into force tomorrow but not all taxis in this city will be able to charge passengers the new fares, according to two taxi operators associations. 
 
The Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Owners and Drivers Association and the Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Operators Association said the calibration of the meters of all the taxis would not be completed in time. 
 
The new flag-off fare for taxis is RM3, up from RM2, while passengers will be charged 10 sen for every 115m instead of the present 150m. 
 
For taxis caught in a traffic jam, the fare will be RM3 for the first three minutes and 10 sen for every subsequent 21 seconds instead of 45 seconds. 
 
Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Owners and Drivers Association chairman Yeoh Mot Lee said a majority of the taxi operators were expected to retain the existing fare structure because the procedure for getting the approval to charge the new fare was "complicated and time-consuming". 
  
"The government has announced that the taxi fare would be adjusted from tomorrow but taxi operators must first visit the taxi meter supplier to get their meters calibrated with the new fare structure before sending the vehicle to Puspakom for further inspection to obtain the approval for fare adjustment.  
 
"This procedure is expected to take about two weeks to be completed and thus not every taxi operator will have the adjusted fares tomorrow," he told Bernama.