Getting insured a problem for city’s new taxis

A high number of road accidents involving taxis has led to insurance companies declining to cover most of the 200 new cabs that were issued a licence last year, our sister publication, Business Daily, reports today. The newspaper quotes the Monetary Authority of Macau’s annual report as saying the authority secured insurance for 480 vehicles last year, 25 percent of which belonged to taxi operators, after insurers declined coverage. The authority said demand for taxi co-insurance had increased after the government issued 200, eight-year cab licences in April last year. “The insurance sector was reluctant to accept insurance for this type of vehicle,” the authority said. Some 729 taxis were involved in accidents reported to the police in the first five months of this year – 159 more than a year before.