All taxi cabs operating in the capital city of Hanoi may have the same colours by 2026.

Taxi cabs operate in Hanoi

This is part of a draft decree on taxi operation regulations, which has been built by the city’s Department of Transport and been collecting comments.

The aim is to better control the operation of taxis and help people distinguish legal and illegal taxis in the city.

Under the draft decree, five basic colours namely yellow, red, white, green and grey will be selected for taxis. Taxi firms can selected the assigned colours and register for their own trademark.

Vu Ha, deputy director of the department, said the drafting board has collected opinions from the city’s Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, relevant departments and agencies about the decree.

The idea of five basic colours has received support from the relevant authorities. Taxi firms have painted these colours on their vehicles.

The operation zones for taxis will be divided into two parts. The first includes urban districts and the second covers rural areas.

Taxi cabs will have to register their zone operation with local authorities and only collect passengers in their own zone.

The department will continue collecting opinions before completing the draft decree and submit to the municipal People’s Committee for approval later this year.

Ha said the model of taxi cabs has partially met the travel needs of people. However, it has shown many inadequacies in the quality of service and high prices and affected traffic order and safety. Building regulations will help solve the problems.

In order to ensure fairness in business and create the best conditions for passengers, Ha said the department will set up a general operating centre for all taxi firms in the city.

Nguyen Cong Hung, Chairman of Hanoi Taxi Association agreed, saying the regulations will ensure all types of transport businesses, including app-based taxis, will be in compliance with the State management conditions.

Currently, more than 19,200 traditional taxi cabs are operating in the city.