Jun 10 (Japan Today) - Taxi operators across Japan hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic have launched hot meal delivery services to make up for their losses after the government allowed them to transport food for profit in April as a deregulation step.
Around 1,300 taxi operators nationwide have started delivering hot meals as of May 22 to overcome the hardship brought on by the virus epidemic.
In April, when the state of emergency was declared for the entire nation, sales of taxi operators across Japan tumbled 62.1 percent on average from a year earlier, according to a survey by the Japan Federation of Hire-Taxi Associations.
An Osaka-based taxi firm filed for bankruptcy in May, becoming the first case of collapse in the industry related to the new virus epidemic.
As the central government is considering making the deregulation step permanent, many taxi companies expect the service, which enables drivers to utilize their spare time effectively, to be a new source of revenue post-pandemic.
Tsubame-taxi group in Nagoya, central Japan, has been delivering curry udon noodle, miso (soybean paste) pork cutlet and other major local dishes from about 30 restaurants in the city to customers since late April.
Customers are charged between 1,000 yen and 2,000 yen for the food to be delivered, with a maximum journey of 7 kilometers.
The taxi group company saw its sales nosedive 70 percent in April from the previous year, after people were requested to avoid unnecessary outings under the state of emergency.
