The New Taipei City Government (新北市政府) started Taiwan’s first taxi fare subsidy for pregnancy checkups in 2012. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s (MOHW, 衛生福利部) increased the number of maternity checkups and projects for pregnant women. The number of maternity checkups is increased to 14 and the New Taipei City special “Pregnancy Car” service (好孕專車) has increased the number of trips from 20 to 28 with a maximum of NT$200 subsidy per trip, for a maximum subsidy of NT$5,600 yuan. Pregnant women can travel to and from the maternity hospitals in any of the five car companies that signed with New Taipei City.
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Social Welfare Department (社會局) Commissioner Chang Chin-li (張錦麗) said that since August 2020, New Taipei City has upgraded the “Pregnancy Car” service from paper-based ticket to e-payment system, and now the tickets are fully electronic. For pregnant women with household registration in New Taipei City or for foreigners and mainland Chinese married to residents of New Taipei City, with a total combined income of the couple not more than 1.5 million yuan in the last year, they can apply and get approval starting July 1, 2021. After the approval of the New Taipei City Government, pregnant women may download the "My New Taipei City" (我的新北市) app and register as a member, and they can use the "Pregnancy Car" service e-tickets on any of the five car companies, the Taiwan Taxi (台灣大), Crown Taxi (皇冠), MTaxi (大都會), ATaxi (優良), and TwinC (龍星) to travel to and from the maternity hospitals for check-up to provide more convenient and comprehensive services for pregnant women.
Scan the QR Code with your mobile phone, and the subsidy of NT$200 will be deducted from the taxi fare. The fare will be waived if it is less than NT$200. (Photo/Provided by the Social Welfare Department of New Taipei City Government)
In addition to promoting the electronic ticket payment system for pregnant women, New Taipei City eliminates the inconvenience of carrying paper tickets. They can book a ride using their mobile phones. At the beginning of this year, they can also use the online system to apply. Pregnant women can register on the New Taipei City Government’s cloud counter to apply for E-services. They just need to search "good pregnancy car", click to download, fill up the information and upload to complete the online application. This helps pregnant women avoid the need to personally go out to send the application information.
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Pregnant women can travel to and from the maternity hospitals with five taxi companies that signed with New Taipei City. (Photo/Retrieved from the Facebook page of the Social Welfare Department of New Taipei City)
In order to cope with the epidemic, pregnant women are welcome to use the online application service. For questions about the application for the “good pregnancy car”, please go to the official website and fan page of the New Taipei Social Welfare Department for inquiries.