Taxi drivers in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, who were getting a bit of break with falling gas prices have seen the advantage evaporate with the cancelation of a one-yuan ($0.16) fuel surcharge paid by passengers. 

The city ordered the per-trip surcharge on April 1, when gas prices hit 8.33 yuan per liter for octane 93. The city government of Dalian took the extra income away Tuesday after the price of gas dropped to 7.66 yuan per liter. It said if oil prices jump again, the surcharge will be reinstated.

Numerous cities in China imposed a fuel surcharge amid climbing fuel prices and a clamor from drivers who complained they were hard-pressed to make a living.

In Shanghai, the one-yuan surcharge was brought in July. The city plans to review the measure annually and has said the extra charge will not be dropped unless gas prices dip below 7.22 yuan per liter.

In Beijing, passengers are required to pay a three-yuan surcharge on trips exceeding 3 kilometers. It is not known if the city has set a benchmark fuel price that would trigger an end to the surcharge.

"With the price of crude oil falling, the domestic price of gasoline has also declined, a prerequisite for the city government to suspend the surcharge," Wang Jun, head of the Dalian taxi management bureau, was quoted by the People's Daily as saying yesterday.

On average, the city's taxis make 45 to 50 trips a day.

"Despite the dropping price of gasoline, it's still hard for us to make a living," a Dalian driver surnamed Li complained.

"The decision is reasonable," said Zhang Qingjun, a taxi passenger. "One yuan is no big deal, but it shows the policy's agility to react to the market."

Taxis drivers in Dalian who fail to remove signs in their cabs explaining the one-yuan fuel surcharge will lose 12 points on their driver's record, according to the city's taxi management bureau.

Cabs in Shenzhen lost the right to charge the one-yuan fuel surcharge on May 14, and cabbies in Xiamen, Fujian Province, are also to erase the one-yuan charge after June 19.

Since the National Development and Reform Commission cut the retail gas price for the second time this year on Friday, taxi passengers in Beijing and Shanghai say they should no longer have to pay the surcharge.

Ding Ling, press officer of the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority, told the Global Times that the city will not drop its one-yuan per-trip surcharge until gas prices drop below 7.22 yuan per liter.

"As the current price is still above the threshold, we have not considered adjusting the taxi fuel surcharge in Shanghai," Ding added.