Taxi exam scrapped in October

The special exam for taxi drivers will disappear from October, clearing the way for a free-for-all on the taxi market, the Telegraaf reports on Thursday.


The diplomas were introduced in an effort to clear up the chaos left when the taxi sector was liberalised in 2000. But the sector itself called for the diploma requirement to be dropped because of widespread fraud.
‘In the big cities in particular, you can se that the quality has not improved,’ Andela Trucs, of the KNV Taxi association told the paper.
After October, anyone who can provide an official certificate of good behaviour (VOG) will be able to start up a taxi company. But in the five big cities, all drivers will have to be a member of the local taxi association, which will monitor quality and service.
Complaints
The introduction of the associations was announced in December and means passengers will have somewhere to complain about poor service.
Since taxi licences were abandoned in 2000, there have been numerous problems, particularly in Amsterdam. Taxi drivers have been accused of refusing to take short trips, ripping off tourists and aggressive behaviour.
Transport minister Melanie Schultz also wants to change the way taxi fares are calculated to a combination of time and distance.

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