Taxicab services on Saipan operating without government approval are skirting safety and insurance regulations and could pose a serious risk to passengers looking for a cheap ride, according to CNMI Department of Commerce officials.<\/p>\n
Commerce issued notices earlier this year to six taxi services on Saipan operating without the department\u2019s approval, prompting five of them later to close, acting Commerce Secretary Michael Ada said in an interview Wednesday. At least one of those companies, known as Tropical Island, has challenged Commerce\u2019s enforcement effort and remains open, continuing to pick up passengers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese companies are a danger to the community,\u201d Ada said. \u201cThey\u2019re a danger to consumers and there\u2019s no way for us to monitor how much they are earning, so the government might be losing out on potential tax revenues from companies that are not reporting or underreporting their income.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, taxi drivers say scores of other unregulated taxis are roaming the island without Commerce\u2019s knowledge and taking business away from cabs that follow local rules. <\/p>\n
Most taxi services on Saipan get approval from Commerce, department officials said, which requires them to submit to safety inspections, obtain health certifications, carry onboard fire extinguishers and show proof of taxi insurance\u2014which covers passengers in the event of an accident. Yet unregulated cabs have avoided abiding by these standards. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor passengers, if they get into one of these cabs, they are taking a risk,\u201d said David Palacios, Commerce\u2019s enforcement chief. \u201cIf they get injured, insurance does not cover them like it would in a regular taxi.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the case of Tropical Island, Palacios said the company has obtained a business license to operate as a transportation company rather than a taxi service; a designation that its owners contend gives them the ability to stay in business without the need for approval from taxi regulators. For now, that distinction is working in the company\u2019s favor. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a loophole and technically it shouldn\u2019t be one,\u201d said Ada, adding that changing rules to close it could prove tricky because the department wants to avoid penalizing hotels that provide transportation to tourists. <\/p>\n
Local regulations, however, define the type of vehicle Tropical Island uses\u2014four door sedans that seat less than eight passengers\u2014as a taxi, meaning the company should be subject Commerce\u2019s authority, he added. <\/p>\n
Tropical Island has asked for a hearing on the issue with Commerce officials, according to Palacios, yet the department currently lacks the hearing officers it needs to conduct one, giving the company an indefinite stay on any enforcement action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re challenging the codes and they have to be heard,\u201d Palacios said.<\/p>\n
For those cabbies that follow the rules, black market cab companies represent a major concern and a drain on the number of paying customers available on Saipan because they can afford to offer cheaper rates than regulated taxi services. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are significantly affecting our business,\u201d said Rabby Syed, president of the Saipan Taxi Association. \u201cThey take customers, like tourists and people off the U.S. Navy ships, away from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tropical Island did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taxicab services on Saipan operating without government approval are skirting safety and insurance regulations and could pose a serious risk to passengers looking for a cheap ride, according to CNMI Department of Commerce officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}