Taxi companies are rushing to equip their vehicles with printers, but complain that many customers are unwilling to accept them and question the value of this type of receipt.

Decree 86/2014 on road transport business stipulates that from July 1, 2016, taxis must have a receipt printing device connected to the fare meter in the vehicle. Drivers must print a receipt and give it to passengers upon payment.

Prior to this deadline, many taxi companies in Hanoi said they were urgently installing the equipment. According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Quan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanh Cong Taxi, nearly 200 of their taxis (accounting for one-third of their fleet) have been equipped with printers, and they expect to complete the installation before July 1st.

All taxi companies are required to equip their vehicles with devices that print receipts.

Regarding the taxis that have been equipped with and are undergoing trial runs, Mr. Nguyen Anh Quan said that many passengers do not accept receipts even though the drivers print and give them to them. "This may be because many passengers are not used to receiving receipts or feel that it is unnecessary," he said.

According to a representative from Van Xuan Taxi, the company has installed fare printing equipment on all 400 of its vehicles. While acknowledging an investment of hundreds of millions of VND in this equipment, the representative noted a drawback: the printed receipts are not accepted by the tax authorities. Therefore, passengers who require a receipt must still visit the company's headquarters.

In addition, businesses also reported that the average investment cost for each receipt printing device was about one million VND, plus tens of thousands of VND per vehicle for maintenance, printing paper, etc., so the input costs were also high.

According to Mr. Bui Danh Lien, Chairman of the Hanoi Automobile Transport Association, printing receipts will make it more convenient for passengers to track their journeys as it shows the vehicle number, amount, route, and the name and address of the business, allowing them to file complaints if any problems arise.

Although businesses incurred relatively high costs, most complied with the policy, and many companies completed the installation. However, Mr. Lien also stated that the fact that most passengers do not want to take back this receipt when getting off the bus is something that needs to change in order for this policy to be more effective.

According to VnExpress