Private cab operators who do not register must return their “dongdong”… Why invoicing is endangering “private cab” operators.

The disabled and elderly will lose “public transportation”!

The invoice (qualified invoice) system started on October 1.

Just before the introduction of the invoice system, Mr. Yoshiharu Akiyama, the executive committee chairman of the Tokyo Private Taxi Workers Union (TPO), held an emergency press conference on September 29 to denounce the fact that disadvantageous treatment was occurring and to call for the suspension of the invoice system.

In the private cab industry, where the majority of operators are tax-exempt and earn less than 10 million yen a year, a number of operators are being forced out of business.

We have heard the heartrending cries of the private cab industry.

In March of this year, Mr. Akira Koike of the Japanese Communist Party, a member of the House of Councillors’ Finance and Monetary Affairs Committee, raised the issue of the problems that the introduction of invoicing causes in the private cab industry and asked Finance Minister Suzuki if he was aware of the unreasonable situation that was occurring.

At that time, Minister Suzuki was not aware of it, and Takeshi Shinagawa, Director General of the Fair Trade Commission’s Trade Division, came out and answered, ‘There is a fear that it may become a problem under the Antimonopoly Law'” (Mr. Yoshiharu Akiyama, Executive Director, hereinafter the same).

What is actually happening in the field?

For example, at the Tokyo Business Cooperative Association of the Japan Piece Dealers Association (about 3,500 members), which is known for its “danden” (lanterns), the “danden” must be removed if they are not included in the invoice, and the cost of removing the lanterns is at their own expense.

Also, “Denden” (Tokyo Individual Taxi Cooperative, about 6,000 members), whose cars have “Denden Mushi” lanterns on their roofs, is demanding that operators who do not register for invoice return the lanterns and also remove the blue lines. They say it costs 50,000 yen to remove the blue line, but they have to pay for that too.

In other words, that kind of discrimination takes place while paying the same union fee.

Also, normally, the money goes to the head office for card payment, and each business takes the receipt to the head office for redemption, but if they do not register for invoicing, they cannot use the cashless terminal machines, so they cannot make card payments either. Even if a business tries to buy a terminal and do it on their own account, some associations prohibit personal use of the machines.”

Invoice registration is not supposed to be “mandatory”…

It is reported that more than 90% of the private cab industry also registers for invoicing and becomes a taxable business. However, Mr. Akiyama, who knows the inner workings of the industry well, is skeptical of these reports.

According to someone from Denden’s Kyoto branch, ostensibly more than 90% are registered, but the actual number is as high as 750 people who are not registered.

Of the 3,500 or so Chochin members, 160 are unregistered, and of the 50 members of the Tohokoro, seven are unregistered. The actual number of invoice registrants is not the same as the number of those registered with the government.

Furthermore, in Kyoto, not only are 750 people unregistered, but the union is also sending out a message to its members on line saying, “Please make sure to answer that you are doing invoicing.

In the private cab industry, where there are few opportunities for union members to get together, rumors spread that “he/she is not invoicing,” and there is a risk of being ostracized. It is strange, isn’t it, that invoice registration should not be compulsory?