South Korea’s Seoul wants to put brakes on taxi overcharging

Seoul, South Korea's capital, is considering measures to curb taxi overcharging of foreign tourists to prevent harm to the country's reputation. According to Democratic Party lawmaker Mo Gyeong-jong, only a small fraction of over 6,000 complaints made by foreign tourists about taxi fare disputes between 2021 and August 2023 led to any administrative action.

In a recent incident, a Taiwanese tourist claimed to have been charged nearly 10 times the expected fare for a taxi ride from Seoul to Incheon International Airport, alleging the driver charged him 690,800 won (US$520) for a trip expected to cost around 70,800 won. This dispute sparked online controversy and prompted Seoul city officials to investigate.

While the tourist was eventually refunded, the driver claimed he made an error by entering an extra zero in the fare. Seoul's taxi administration division has introduced stricter penalties and a public awareness campaign, including a QR-code-based reporting channel for tourists to lodge complaints. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains questionable, as 67.4% of the 6,481 complaints received between 2021 and August 2023 were closed without any administrative action.

The most common reasons for these dismissals included withdrawn reports, mistaken complaints, and failure to meet reporting requirements. Despite the introduction of a reward scheme for people whose complaints result in administrative penalties, no one has applied for or received a reward since the scheme was revised in 2013.