Officials of Guangzhou have cut the monthly fees that cab drivers must pay to their employers by 800 yuan (about US$118) effective Monday, a city government spokesman said.

A survey of cabbies found that those who rent their vehicles from taxi companies pay a monthly fee of about 10,200 yuan. Drivers who own their cabs and have five-year operating agreements with taxi companies pay 5,000 yuan each.

The decision to cut fees was taken jointly by the municipal price control bureau of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and by the municipal committee of communications. It was approved by the city government, the spokesman said.

He said the reduction consists of a cut of 500 yuan in fees such as rentals, which vary by company, and scrapping a 300 yuan fee for parking.

According to Wu Mingchang, chief of the legal affairs office with the Guangzhou City government, there are 98 taxi companies in the city, with 17,427 cabs and 37,594 cabbies.

A draft regulation designed to tighten regulation of taxi service in Guangzhou was taken up at the People's Congress of Guangzhou City last week.

"The draft regulation advocates the presence of a system wherein fair market access and exit is introduced," said Wu. Under the regulation, the transport administration department would have the power to impound any unlicensed cabs and impose penalties.

Some Guangzhou cabbies had planned to go on a strike on Monday to complain about their condition. But no large-scale strike was seen in key road sections and venues on this day, thanks to the timely measures.

At the Guangzhou Eastern Railway Station, passengers said they needed not to wait for a long time to take taxi.

High rental fees and competition from unlicensed cabs has been a factor in several taxi drivers' strikes in recent weeks. Strikes were reported in Chaozhou and Shantou, both in Guangdong Province; in the city of Chongqing; in Sanya, Hainan Province and Yongdeng, Gansu Province.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2008)