Shenzhen's green taxis started to levy a one-yuan (US$0.12) fuel surcharge Tuesday, a direct fallout of gasoline prices being raised twice this year.

The city's pricing bureau said they made the move after considering the current revenue level of green taxis, which are limited to operating outside the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Green taxis used to charge seven yuan for the first two kilometers and 1.6 yuan for every additional kilometer, much less than the 12.5-yuan taxi flagfall and the 2.4-yuan charge for each additional kilometer by red and yellow taxis.

The pricing bureau also said Wednesday there was no plan to raise the fares of red or yellow taxis.

The fuel surcharge is expected to increase the daily revenue of each taxi by about 30 yuan, but some drivers said that it was not enough to offset the fuel price hike.

"In order to make the ends meet, I have to earn 18 yuan an hour, but often I cannot make that much due to the high fuel prices. The one-yuan fuel surcharge cannot help much," said a green taxi driver surnamed Zhang.

Most of the taxi passengers outside the SEZ interviewed by the Daily Sunshine on Tuesday thought the one-yuan fuel surcharge was acceptable, saying they understood that the increases in fuel prices had placed additional pressure on taxi drivers.

The retail prices of most types of gasoline rose by more than 0.50 yuan per liter this year.

There are now 73 registered taxi companies in Shenzhen, of which 68 operate 10,305 taxis using more than 21,000 drivers. Of the total number of taxis, 1,800 are green taxis and 8,196 are red taxis that can run both inside and outside the SEZ, while the 309 yellow taxis are limited to operating inside the zone.

(Shenzhen Daily June 22, 2006)