Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology has intensified installing printing machine to the taximeter in taxis operating in the Kathmandu Valley in a bid to prevent passengers from being cheated in the taxi fare.

The Bureau had been receiving complaints that taxi passengers in the Valley continued to be overcharged by taxi operators (drivers) and this has prompted the Bureau to take this measure as per which taxi drivers shall be obliged to charge passengers through the computerised billing system.

The installation of a printing machine to the taximeter has been in place since January 1.

So far some 2,000 taxis operating in the Valley are equipped with a computerised billing machine , according to Bureau Director General Bishwababu Pudasaini. The Bureau has intensified the installation drive since a week. A taxi operator needs to pay Rs 5,000-8,000 to get a machine installed in a vehicle.

The Bureau has also implemented a public awareness-raising programme to encourage taxi operators to fix a printing machine in a vehicle and service recipients to take a bill after using the taxi service. No taxi operator shall be allowed to run the business without fixing a printing machine. There are around 10,000 taxies in operation in the Valley.

The Bureau plans to install a bill printing machine into all taxis by coming mid August. RSS