Seoul city announced Tuesday that it will be reducing the number of cabs here by 74 to help ease the overcrowded taxi market.

Research recently showed that the city currently has an oversupply of 11,831 vehicles. The Seoul city government aimed to completely resolve the problem by 2036.

In the meantime, it will cut down the number of cabs by 74 in 2016, an additional 108 in 2018 and another 110 in 2019. 

Cars to go this year include 50 operated by individual drivers. This will be followed by another 73 each in 2017 and 2018, and another 75 in 2019. The remaining cars will be company-run taxis.

The city government said that it had reached a consensus with the taxi company CEOs and the drivers’ union representatives to reimburse company-run taxis with 53 million won ($46,000) and individual taxis with 81 million won.

Every 13 million won will be sponsored by the government, with 3.9 million from the national budget and 9.1 million from city budget. The remaining will be the responsibility of taxi unions and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s value-added tax.

Further details will be announced next Thursday on Seoul city website www.seoul.go.kr

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)