Bangkok is a city infamous for its taxi service, with drivers often rejecting passengers, demonstrating poor road manners and charging overpriced fares. Sadly, the legal punishment enforced by the Land Traffic Act and Motor Vehicle Act on these taxis — a fine of up to 5,000 baht — does not seem to help.
The Department of Land Transport has so far launched various strategies to evaluate taxis for further service improvement. The 1584 hotline and the department's website have for a while been used by passengers to make complaints. Earlier this year, the department initiated its latest contribution — a smartphone app called DLT Check In.
This free app allows passengers to register with their mobile number before entering information on the taxi they are using including its licence plate number, photos of the car as well as current location. The app then provides an evaluation form which is broken down into several categories including their overall service satisfaction, the condition of the car and the driver's manners. Comments and suggestions can also be posted via the app.
According to the deputy-general of the Land Transport Department Jirut Wisanjit, taxi reviews submitted by passengers through the application will be used as a framework to improve taxi quality.
"The complaints received via the app are reported directly by real passengers and are thus likely to be reliable," he explained. "The information will describe the problems and allow us to collect statistics on the time and location of where the problems usually occur."
Staff from the Department of Land Transport will collect all the information they receive from the application before passing it onto the staff at the 1584 call centre for verification and categorisation. This information will then be used by the department to assess whether or not the drivers need to be penalised.
So far there have been records of 11 drivers who continue to receive poor reviews. All of them have been penalised by getting reprimanded. Their taxi driving licenses were also confiscated.
On the other hand, taxi drivers who receive positive reviews will be rewarded, with hopes of encouraging drivers to keep offering quality services.
Juthamas Udomlapsakul has been a frequent app user since its initial launch. The 24-year-old commuter often got rejected by taxi drivers in several places in Bangkok.
"I'm always left upset when facing such a taxi-related situation so I decided to start reporting them instantly," explained Juthamas. "I have never sent my complaints through the 1584 call centre because I'm tired of waiting for operators. But since the app was launched, it's much easier. However, I'm not a hundred percent sure whether this will lead to taxi service improvement. But at least it's better than nothing."
To date, DLT Check In has had more than 30,000 downloads within three months. The app is available on both iOS and Android platforms. According to statistics from the Land Transport Department, as of June 12, the number of cases reported through the app since its inception in February is 13,581. Also according to statistics collected through the app, the service satisfaction is 25% below what it should be and furthermore driver behaviour is 26% below what it should be.
Jirut added that complaints and reports received from passengers can also specify the top locations where taxi-related issues usually take place. The top two complaints are associated with taxis refusing passengers and taxis keeping meters off especially in traffic-congested areas such as Sukhumvit and Phaya Thai. Incidents of passengers being refused service usually takes place during the hours between 5pm and 10pm.
"The Department of Land Transport is preparing to hold a meeting with entrepreneurs and taxi drivers as well as government sectors in order to improve taxi services," he added. "The framework in improving taxi services will be based on the information received from user reports."
The application DLT Check In reports that the top two complaints from commuters are associated with taxis refusing passengers and taxi meters remaining off.
