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Discrimination against Taxi Drivers with Accident-free Records from other Regions in Issuance of Private Taxi Driver ¡¯s Licenses [2004] KRNHRC 36 (1 April 2004)

The complainant had worked as a taxi driver for 14 years in Daegu before he moved to
Gyeongju in January 2002. After two years, the complainant applied for a private taxi
driver's license, but he was rejected as the related rules had been revised in September
2003 such that only those who had accident-free records in Gyeongju could be qualified for
private taxi driver's licenses in Gyeongju. The complaint was filed with the Commission in
April 2004.

The Gyeongju Municipal Government argued that
(1) the Enforcement Rule of the Passenger Transport Business Act stipulates that the requirements
for issuance of licenses or priority cannot be established separately from the Act;
(2) in 2002, when a person who had a taxi driving record only in areas other than the City of
Gyeongju-si applied for a private taxi driver's license in Gyeongju-si, there was resistance from
applicants with taxi driving records on the wait-list for private taxi driver's licenses;
(3) in response to such resistance, Gyeongju city government referred to results of a commissioned
research project on efficient operation of the taxi system in the City of Gyeongju-si; and also
(4) referred to precedents in other cities which put less priority on driving history in other regions in
issuance of private taxi driver's licenses before it revised the applicable regulations.

After investigation, the Commission found that
(1) the complainant had a taxi driving record of 14 years outside Gyeongju, and two
or three months inside Gyeongju;
(2) in 2003, Gyeongju Municipal Government revised wording in the applicable laws on priority
candidates for private taxi transport business licenses from `those taxi drivers with records
of no accidents for the last eleven years or more' to `those tax drivers with records of no
accidents for the last eleven years or more within Gyeongju'. Accordingly, the complainant
was excluded from applying for a private taxi driver's license.
The Commission also found that
(3) those priority candidates who had actually been issued private taxi driver's licenses
under the Gyeongju-si Private Taxi Transport Business License Handling Procedures for the
last three years numbered 15 persons in 2001, 15 persons in 2002, and 17 persons in 2003; and
(4) of all those who were issued private taxi driver's licenses in Gyeongju-si, those
who were issued licenses in recognition of taxi driving records outside Gyeongju number
only one in 2000 and one in 2001 (two in total).

The Commission concluded,
(1) although applicable laws state that the office of jurisdiction may decide priorities in issuance
of licenses, this constitutes establishment of standards and revision according to priorities set by
the applicable laws;
(2) Gyeongju-si revised the applicable rules such that records of no-accidents outside Gyeongju, which
previously recognized 100%, would not be recognized. This is beyond authority invested by
state law. The Commission furthermore concluded that
(3) actually, only two taxi drivers, one in 2000 and the other in 2001, were issued private taxi driver's
licenses in recognition of records of no-accidents outside Gyeongju; and
(4) there already are regulations that require that applicants must live in Gyeongju-si more than two years or have to drive taxis
in Gyeongju-si for more than three years before applying for private taxi transportation
business licenses.
The Commission decided that these existing regulations effectively restricted
applications for private taxi driver's licenses by those with driving records outside Gyeongju.
The findings of the above mentioned commissioned research showed that in giving
priority to private taxi licenses, more local governments recognize driving records outside
their jurisdictions than those which do not. The Commission concluded that refusal to
recognize accident-free driving records outside Gyeongju quoting the results of commissioned
research despite the fact that there was no mention of driving records within Gyeongju in
deciding priority of issuing private taxi driver's licenses, was without reasonable grounds.
The Commission recommended that the mayor of Gyeongju-si revise the applicable
regulations such that those with accident-free driving records outside Gyeongju may be
permitted to apply for private taxi driver's licenses.