On November 27, in Caiyuanba, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, the public security and transportation management departments are jointly investigating the social vehicles staying here, in order to severely crack down on "black cars".
Core Tip
The latest data shows that there are more than 1 million taxis with legal operating licenses across the country, with an annual passenger volume of 11 billion to 12 billion. The interests of more than 2 million "brother" groups need to be responded to in a timely manner, but there are many "black cars", it is difficult to fill gas, heavy fines, and more "share money"… It reflects the disadvantages of monopoly from one side, that is, the monopoly of the right to operate taxis. Some experts pointed out that the urgent task of changing the status quo requires government departments to take measures as soon as possible to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of drivers, open the market door, and break the monopoly operation of the industry; in the long run, it is necessary to speed up the pace of legislation in the taxi industry, clarify management responsibilities, and scientifically restructure the distribution of
Since November, a series of taxi strikes have taken place in Chongqing, Sanya, Hainan, and Shantou, Guangdong. Reflecting on some of the problems exposed by these incidents reflects a series of deep-seated contradictions facing the current reform and development, and further illustrates the urgency and necessity of deepening reform.
Standing at the new starting point of reform and facing the diverse demands of the masses, only by facing the challenges head-on, putting people first, and accelerating the reform of the management system that does not conform to the scientific concept of development can we eliminate the factors of social disharmony.
Chaos one, big trouble and big solution, small trouble and small solution, no trouble and no solution
Enlightenment: Facing the demands of the masses and unblocking the channels for public opinion expression
Management needs new wisdom and courage
One after another taxi strikes have focused the attention of the whole society on the more than 2 million "brother" groups in the country. The latest data shows that there are more than 1 million taxis with legal operating licenses in the country, and the annual passenger volume is 11 billion to 12 billion.
Freezing three feet is not a day’s cold. In the taxi strike incident in Chongqing and other places, many drivers reported that the strike was not an impulsive move, but because their interests were not responded to in a timely manner.
Earlier this year, the Development Research Center of the State Council submitted a national taxi industry research report. The report put forward five major contradictions in the industry: first, the market access system is unreasonable; second, the management of taxi management rights is chaotic; third, the lack of "black car" supervision impacts the industry order; fourth, the relationship between companies and enterprises is unclear, the driver is overburdened and the income is low; fifth, the industry management system is not smooth.
"It’s not that the problem can’t be solved, it’s that it wasn’t taken seriously early." Some taxi drivers in Chongqing, for example, said that after the strike, government departments took measures to quickly solve some of the long-standing problems of being left alone.
Zhang Xiaode, a professor at the National School of Administration, believes that some departments cannot respond to the interests of the masses in a timely and serious manner, and eventually fall into the management cycle of "big trouble and big solution, small trouble and small solution, no trouble and no solution".
After 30 years of reform and opening up, China is at an important juncture of the "golden period of development" and the "period of prominent contradictions." The trend of independence, diversity and selectivity in public thought requires further improvement of social management mechanisms.
"Government departments need new wisdom and courage to deal with complex and diverse interests," Mr. Zhang said. If industry or social organisations, including trade unions, develop positively and healthily, the pressure on the government to resolve social conflicts can be eased. On November 13, the General Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions issued a notice to promote the formation of unions in taxi companies. This gave taxi drivers hope for collective rights protection in accordance with the law.
Chaos 2: The right to operate is being sold at high prices as a scarce monopoly resource
Revelation: Breaking the "Industry Monopoly"
"Market Access" Expects Fairness
The frequent occurrence of taxi strikes again reflects the disadvantages of monopoly from one side.
Three years ago, Chongqing’s "brother" Yang Xiaoming proposed the idea of "People’s Taxi Company", but the Chongqing Municipal Transportation Administration rejected his application. In fact, what Yang Xiaoming was denied was a monopolistic public resource – the right to operate taxis.
At present, the taxi operating rights used by taxi companies are transferred by the government in the form of "concessions". At first, they are mostly transferred for free or at a low price, but they are sold by some companies as a scarce monopoly resource, and some are even sold for millions of yuan.
Huang Qifan, vice mayor of Chongqing, calculated an account during a discussion with taxi drivers: a taxi can earn 700 yuan a day, and the total income during the four-year contract period is more than 800,000 yuan, but the "share money", "contract fee", "advance business payment" and other expenses will have to pay about 570,000 yuan. The rest of the income, excluding the cost of gas filling, repairs and other expenses, the driver can only earn about 2,000 yuan per month.
"It’s getting lower and lower now, and my daily income from driving a taxi is only 40 to 50 yuan," said Tan Daihua, a taxi driver in Chongqing.
Huang Qifan said that the taxi company takes about 70% of the money. After deducting costs and taxes such as car purchases, a car makes a profit of about 40,000 yuan per year. It is not affected by cost changes such as rising prices and oil prices. The average annual income is 50%, and some even as high as 70%. It is really "the industry with the best return on investment in the world."
Some drivers say taxi companies are simply a "rentier" class created by a monopoly. Some companies refuse to set industry revenue standards and a uniform eight-hour work quota, and refuse to buy social insurance for drivers.
On August 1 this year, our country’s Antimonopoly Act, which has been brewing for 14 years, was finally officially implemented.
Economist Bao Yongjiang said that every reform is an adjustment of interest relations, and the important thing is whether it is fair and whether it reflects the sharing of reform and development results by the masses. In the future, the key to testing the effect of our country’s market-oriented reform is here.
Chaos three, it is beneficial for everyone to fight, but it is not beneficial for everyone to push
Inspiration: Transforming departmental functions
Clarifying the "boundary" between government and market
A series of taxi strikes have exposed problems such as industry access, unfair distribution, and lack of supervision. At a deeper level, it reflects the offside, absence, and dislocation of the functions of relevant government departments.
Zhang Junkuo, director of the Development Strategy and Regional Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that the core problem of the taxi industry, namely the poor regulation of taxi operation rights, highlights the urgency of accelerating the pace of reform in the new era.
Initially, multiple government departments competed for approval and management rights. After the state banned the auction of taxi operating rights, the relevant departments neglected to manage, and there was an industry supervision situation that was "beneficial to everyone to compete, but not beneficial to everyone to push".
According to the survey, the current demands of drivers mainly include "share money", freight rates, fines and "black cars", which involve multiple departments such as transportation, economy and trade, prices, and public security. And including reducing "share money" and solving problems such as "difficult gas filling" are not something that local government departments can solve immediately.
The government of Sanya, a city in Hainan province, issued a document that decided to start the rectification of the industry in 2008 to reduce taxi contracting fees and reduce the burden. But until November, the decision could not be implemented, which eventually led to the strike. "Regardless of whether the contracting fee is high or low, it has long been agreed by the legal contract. How can the government change it as soon as it orders it?" said the boss of a local taxi company.
However, the government’s withdrawal from the market does not mean weakening the government’s regulatory service function. In the taxi industry, companies that hold the right to operate leasing rights wantonly increase "share of money" and infringe on the interests of drivers; the phenomenon of reselling taxi management rights in the black market is prominent, raising operating costs; "black cars" are rampant, disrupting the taxi market… These problems are directly related to the lack of government regulatory functions.
Resolving the "difficulty of refueling" is one of the demands of this Chongqing taxi strike. In Chongqing, it generally takes more than an hour for a taxi to fill with natural gas, and the longest wait is three hours. This not only seriously affects the operating income of taxis, but also exacerbates the "difficulty of hailing" situation, and the masses complain.
Experts say that the contradiction between supply and demand such as the "difficulty of filling gas" also shows that the relevant departments are still far from the reform requirements of the service-oriented government.
"Let the government belong to the government, and the market belongs to the market." Local governments and departments must step out of the multiple roles of producers, supervisors, and controllers, cut the umbilical cord of interests with market entities such as enterprises, and change to the role of safeguarding fairness and justice and providing public services in accordance with the requirements of the Scientific Outlook on Development.
When it comes to the reform of the taxi industry, relevant experts believe that the top priority is for government departments to take measures as soon as possible to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of drivers. Such as mandatory "three insurance" protection, formulating the maximum price of "share money", and providing unified and standardized contract models. The second is to open the market door and break the monopoly of the industry.
In the long run, it is necessary to accelerate the pace of legislation in the taxi industry, clarify the responsibilities of industry management, clarify the relationship between government departments, taxi companies, and drivers, and restructure the distribution of industry interests in accordance with the principles of fairness, transparency, and scientific development.
According to the reporter, after the State Council identified the transportation department as the competent department of the taxi industry, the industry management functions formerly belonging to the construction department are being handed over. At present, the transportation department is starting to investigate the deep-seated problems existing in the taxi industry, and will gradually take policy measures to solve the historical legacy problems; at the same time, increase reform efforts, strive to straighten out the industry management system as soon as possible, so that the taxi industry is on the track of scientific development.
(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 1, reporters Song Zhenyuan, Chen Erhou, Zhu Liyi, Liu Kang)
Editor in charge: Zhao Xuanxuan