Since last year, Shanghai taxi drivers have been warned to prepare for the introduction of a national fuel tax to replace a long list of ad-hoc vehicle and road fees.
The proposed move is crucial to Premier Zhu Rongji's reform of the tax regime and is supposed to signal the beginning of an end to arbitrary imposition of fees by local governments.
More than six months later, nothing has happened. The passage of the law has been thrown into doubt after it was recently voted down by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
A Shanghai taxi driver said the new tax would make little difference to his costs and wondered when it would finally become a reality.
'First, we were told the tax would be implemented on January 1. Next, they said it would be May 1. Now, nobody knows if it will come about,' he said.
The proposed tax did not stir as much controversy in Shanghai as it did in less-developed cities. Why? For Shanghai drivers, taxi companies have made corresponding cuts in other fees to make up for the extra expenses that would arise with the imposition of the new tax. So, no problem here.
