Japan's Transport Ministry has abolished the requirement for taxi drivers to display their name and photograph in their vehicles, local media reported on Monday.

The move, aimed at preventing the posting of taxi drivers' personal information online, is to ensure a safe work environment for drivers and ease the labor shortage in the transportation industry, Xinhua news agency quoted public broadcaster NHK as saying.

Taxi drivers used to have to display their photo ID to show that they are the authorised driver and not an impostor.

But there have been cases when dissatisfied passengers took a picture of the driver's ID card without permission and uploaded it to a social networking site, said the NHK report.

Passengers will still be able to identify a vehicle by the driver number or the receipt if they left something behind and need to contact the operator, it added. 

(IANS/SR)