Shanghai taxi fares on the rise?

Our favorite weekly email newsletter says so:

And it gets worse… Shanghai taxis are about to get more expensive -- the basic starter fare will rise from RMB10 to RMB12 sometime this year. One sign of growing incomes in Shanghai has been the general rise in the use of taxis, but, like everywhere else, at some point taxis have to become a little luxury, or one half of the city will be driving the other around all day. We’re not sure how many people will drop out of the taxi queue when the extra RMB2 kicks in -- but it is overdue. Taxi drivers are ecstatic.

We haven't found this information anywhere else, although some kind of hike has been rumored for a while.

And no, we don't have any insider information on this, because contrary to popular belief, we don't really drive a Shanghai taxi. It's Photoshop, people.

Access Asia's Weekly View On Asia can be found here.