Part of the Road Transportation Act and the Act on Temporary Measures concerning the Regulation of Taxi Services were revised to come to effect on February 1, 2002, and accordingly, the system of the business was switched from the licensing system to the approval system, allowing operators of the business to freely conduct business only by reporting increases and decreases in vehicles (so-called 'relaxation of the taxi regulations' means the revision of these acts).
2002年2月1日に道路運送法・タクシー業務適正化臨時措置法の一部が改正施行され、事業はこれまでの免許制から許可制とし、事業者の車両数増減も届出のみで自由に可能になった（いわゆる「タクシー規制緩和」とはこれらの法改正を指す）。