investigation motive
In the city of Penglai in Shandong province, some taxi owners who have obtained the right to operate according to law cannot find their names on the local "micro-transportation management" platform; some owners are "killed" when changing vehicles; and some owners are required to pay "safety deposits" to complete the transfer procedures.
These car owners believe that the reason for these phenomena is that the local transportation bureau is suspected of illegal administration.
Our reporter, Sun Anqing
Penglai City, Shandong Province is home to famous scenic spots such as Penglai Pavilion, a large number of tourists, and a well-developed passenger rental industry. Although the household population is only 400,000, there are more than 600 passenger taxis active in the local streets.
However, behind the city’s thriving passenger rental business are ongoing disputes.
Recently, the Legal Daily reporter received a series of reports from local taxi owners, saying that the city’s traffic management department forcibly transferred their taxi operation rights to the taxi company, and the taxi owners had to pay a high "safety deposit" before the transportation bureau gave the transfer; the transportation bureau and the taxi company illegally increased the fare when the owners updated and purchased the vehicle. Taxi owners demanded that the local transportation bureau and taxi company return the original operating rights to them and return the fees charged in violation of laws and regulations.
What is the truth? The Legal Daily reporter rushed to Penglai to investigate.
The right to operate was accused of being "stolen"
The transportation bureau said the owner had a misunderstanding
Peng Jun, director of Penglai Taxi, told reporters that in the early 1990s, the owners of passenger vehicles such as tricycles and vans in Penglai did not have operating licenses. In the late 1990s, the local government began to issue them operating licenses, which were called "little red books" by owners and were all private accounts. Since the implementation of the "Shandong Provincial Road Transport Regulations" in 2011, taxis are encouraged to operate on a large scale and intensively. Therefore, the Penglai Municipal Transportation Bureau took this opportunity to take back the "little red book" of the owner of the old car and replace it with a new one. Without conducting legal procedures such as hearings and publicity, the name of the owner of the transportation license was changed from the owner’s name to the company plus personal name or personal name. In the remarks, dozens or even hundreds of people share a business license number. What worries the car owners even more is that when the subsequent transportation license was changed, the names of the car owners were cancelled, and even in the "micro-transportation management" platform launched by Yantai City, the name information of the car owners could not be found.
Ren Pengjun believes that although the "Shandong Provincial Road Transport Regulations" implemented in 2011 encourage public ownership, there is no word prohibiting self-employment throughout. The regulations stipulate that "if the taxi passenger transportation operation rights obtained before the implementation of these regulations have not expired, the management of the operation rights shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of the people’s government of the city or county (city) divided into districts." All taxi self-employment rights in Penglai City were obtained before 2011. In addition, the Guobanfa [2016] No. 58 "Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry" believes that "contractors who adopt the contract management method and self-employed individuals who obtain the right to operate should obtain the qualification of taxi drivers", which just proves that the state recognizes and allows self-employment with the right to operate.
"We have changed from car owners to drivers of the company. It’s like the company has become a landlord, and the car owners have become renters. The business rights that depend on survival to support the family have been stolen in a confused manner," Ren Pengjun said.
Zhai Shaochun, the taxi owner, is even more worried: "I am worried that our business procedures will not be able to be traded in the future, and I am even more worried that the company will take our business rights to mortgage, and then we will be innocent and take on huge debts."
Reporters found two copies of the same taxi company’s "People’s Republic of China Road Transport License" found that the owner of the transport license held by Li Bo is "Penglai Taxi Co., Ltd. (Li Bo) ", the owner of the transport license held by Jing Guangming is "Penglai Taxi Co., Ltd. (Jing Guangming) ", and the two business license numbers are "370684150003", the economic type belongs to the collective.
In response to the car owners’ questions, a deputy director of the Penglai City Transportation Bureau surnamed Tang told reporters that there are 617 passenger taxis in Penglai City. After the operation reform in 2002, the car owners agreed to this kind of transportation license with the owner’s name added by the company. In September 2016, affected by the upgrade of the unified transportation administration system of the provincial government, when the car owners who expired to change the license went to the transportation department for the replacement procedures, the "business name" column could not enter the owner’s name information, only the personal information appeared in the remarks column on the second page of the transportation license. Affected by the upgrade of the transportation administration system, the "micro-transportation management" platform only displays the car number and company name, and the personal name information is no longer displayed in the remarks column. It is estimated that these reasons caused the misunderstanding of the car owners. " In fact, only the registration form of the operation certificate has changed, and the operation rights have not changed. "Deputy Director Tang said.
Has the passenger operation right of the taxi owner in Penglai City been transferred to the company’s name? Zhou Li, a lecturer at the Law School of Qingdao University of Science and Technology, believes that from the perspective of the road transportation license provided by the owner of Penglai, it only reflects the administrative license and control of the taxi company by the government department, and cannot see the administrative license and control of the government department on the owner, so the operation right should belong to the taxi company. If the local government revokes or changes the administrative license at will without legal procedures, the owner can pursue the relevant responsibilities of the government through administrative reconsideration or administrative litigation. "But in reality, many cities have adopted the Penglai company plus the owner’s operation right model. Although the operation right belongs to the company, the local government often tacitly acknowledges the transfer of the owner’s ownership and other disposal behaviors. For the passenger rental authority to be reasonable and harmonious, it must obtain the consent of the owner and follow legal procedures. "Zhou Li said.
The owner reflects that the price needs to be increased for changing the car.
And they said there was no way.
"The local transportation bureau, taxi company and car dealership joined forces to raise the price of the new car illegally on the occasion of changing the car, which pitted the owner." Zhai Shaochun, the owner, told reporters that the Penglai City Transportation Bureau called it adjusting and optimizing the rental model, and issued several unreasonable regulations: First, it was determined that three models such as Langyi were replacement models, and other models were not allowed to be transferred; second, it was necessary to buy cars locally in Penglai, and cars purchased from other places were not allowed to be transferred. As a result, there was a strange phenomenon when buying cars. The alternative models of Penglai were several thousand yuan higher than those in surrounding counties and urban areas. For example, the price of the new Pusang and Jetta in Penglai was 82,800 yuan, and the price of Longkou City, which is also in Yantai City and 30 kilometers
Holding an invoice and a receipt, Jing Guangming told reporters that when he replaced his new car in July last year, he bought a Langyi sedan from a car dealership in Penglai. The manufacturer issued an invoice of 90,000 yuan, but the car dealership charged him 100,500 yuan, which was more than 10,000 yuan more than the normal price. "Only when I buy this car can I enjoy the preferential policy of upgrading from the starting price of 7 yuan, the kilometer price of 1.5 yuan to the starting price of 8 yuan, and the kilometer price of 1.8 yuan. I have to swallow it in my stomach and let them kill me for more than 10,000 yuan," Jing Guangming said.
"Due to the sales system of the car dealership, Penglai owners cannot buy cars in other places, which in fact creates a monopoly. But our administrative bureau cannot make a hard rule," Deputy Director Tang explained.
On March 24, the Penglai City Transportation Bureau issued a "letter to the majority of rental households". The reporter saw from this letter that the bureau would announce alternative models online within a week, and at the same time cancel the rental version restrictions.
Security deposit required for transfer
The transportation bureau promises a full refund.
Car owner Zhai Shaochun reported that around June last year, the Penglai City Transportation Bureau allowed taxis to go through the operation formalities and transfer, and four taxi companies notified that they had to pay a "safety deposit" of 10,000 yuan to transfer. Later, under the strong opposition of car owners, it was changed to 5,000 yuan, and the owner was required to take a video, write a statement that the guarantee is voluntary and do not petition, and keep the information in the company, otherwise the transfer will not be made. "The company stipulates that each car mainly pays compulsory traffic insurance and commercial insurance ranging from 300,000 to 800,000 yuan. What else is there to worry about the driver? What is the purpose of this unnecessary act? Where did so many security deposits go?" Zhai Shaochun was puzzled.
The reporter learned that in 2006, the Ministry of Communications and others jointly issued a notice requiring drivers to collect "risk deposit", "property deposit", "operating income deposit" and other expenses, which must be returned in full within a time limit. If they refuse to return, they must be held accountable.
In this regard, Deputy Director Tang explained that there are several taxi companies of different sizes in Penglai. The smallest company has only 36 taxis and charges only 40 yuan per car per month for management fees, which is very stressful. And if there is a major accident in a vehicle that pays too little insurance, because the company’s name is written on the certificate, the company will bear joint and several liability, so this protection method is adopted. The company is afraid that the owner will regret it, so it recorded a video. According to him, the fee has been collected since June last year, and so far a total of 240 people have been charged.
"The bureau initially thought that this was an enterprise management behavior, but later found that the procedure was illegal and had no legal basis. We decided to refund all these deposits to the owner as soon as possible," Deputy Director Tang promised.