Recently, a netizen posted ** saying that he was suspected of encountering the driver's meter adjustment phenomenon when taking a taxi. ** shows that the taxi's meter almost jumps 1 yuan per second. On December 8, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission responded to the incident, saying that the driver involved had admitted that he had illegally installed a "small motor" to create untrue mileage and amount, and planned to impose a penalty on him to cancel the qualification of passenger service operation, and prohibit him from working in the taxi industry for five years. It was also revealed that the local traffic law enforcement department is carrying out regular law enforcement inspections of operating taxis in the city (according to Knews, a look at the news on December 9).
According to the driving track provided by the taxi company, the actual passenger journey of the car is only 904 km, but after installing the "small motor", the meter shows 209 kilometers, of course, the billing will also be "up". Although the "small motor" is small, its harm should not be underestimated. As a means of public transportation, taxis are related to the daily life of countless people, therefore, their charging standards and billing methods have strict and clear regulations, once the fare is falsified, it is not only the rights and interests of consumers that are violated, but also the reputation and operation order of the entire taxi industry will be negatively affected. Moreover, it is not the first time that "small motors" have appeared: in May 2021, there were complaints and verifications of taxi drivers installing "small motors" without authorization in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. What's more, the installation of illegal equipment to modify the driving trajectory and mileage, such a situation has also occurred in the field of online ride-hailing. As early as the end of 2020, there was a situation in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where online car-hailing drivers installed GPS positioning modification equipment "small tails" on their cars without authorization. In the end, both the designer and the user of the "little tail" were held criminally responsible (according to the Zhejiang Legal News on August 28, 2023).
As violations are investigated and punished, a full range of law enforcement inspections and governance in related fields are also launched. However, with the current detection methods, the "small motor" as an external device is still difficult to monitor, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission reminded that citizens and passengers should be vigilant when taking taxis, and can complain or call the police directly when encountering similar situations. In this way, since it is difficult to eliminate the installation and use of "small motors" by dynamic and real-time supervision methods, it has become a very important and necessary work to keep an eye on similar problems once they are verified, dig deep into the design, production and sales of "small motors" and carry out traceability crackdowns.
To grasp the "bull's nose" of illegal equipment, there are at least the following questions to be investigated: First, whether the design behavior of the "small motor" is suspected of violating the law and committing crimesIt is understood that the "little tail" similar to the "small motor" was "studied" and designed by a software engineer Yu Moumou and sold it on the Internet, and in the end, Yu Moumou was investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of providing intrusion and illegal control of computer information system programs and tools. Second, who is the producer of the "small motor", it is also worth thoroughly investigating and blocking the source. If we wait for such illegal products to enter the market and then take precautions after the fact, it will inevitably greatly increase the cost of law enforcement and justice. Third, it is all the more necessary to completely cut off the illegal chain of selling, purchasing, and using "small motors." Illegal equipment like a "small motor", what does the driver buy it for?Self-explanatory. For illegal drivers, it is of course necessary to cancel qualifications and prohibit practice, but at the same time, it is also necessary to thoroughly investigate the entire "black industry chain" of "small motors" through individual cases and strengthen traceability governance.
In addition, for illegal devices such as "small motors" and "small tails", relevant e-commerce platforms and regulatory authorities should also effectively strengthen review and supervision, timely plug the loopholes in the review of similar merchants and goods, and strictly prevent similar "artifacts" from flowing to the market through the platform.
*:Procuratorate**·Rule of Law News Edition Author: Chai Chunyuan.