In the Big Apple, they do it bigger. Someone once told me that as I was walking through the office-building canyons in midtown. It was a good thing I wasn’t driving through these same canyons in a taxi. I may have been being fleeced without my knowledge.
New GPS technology married with the fare meter has uncovered a long-running taxi-driver scam that has been foisted upon unwitting taxi riders for years. Drivers were flipping the meter on for “suburbs” rather than “city” and raking in higher fares.
A fix is being installed to tell passengers exactly what fare is activated on the meter. About 40 percent of the NYC cabs are already equipped.
The TLC said it found at least 1.8 million riders were illegally charged over the past two years.
Officials say more than 5,100 taxicabs now have the warning on the screen in the backseat. The rest of the 13,200-vehicle fleet will get it over the next several days.
The warning also tells passengers to report their driver if the higher rate has been activated inside city limits. A local anesthesiologist is credited with setting off the investigation that uncovered the shocking $8 million taxi scam.
A doctor taking a taxi home noticed that his fare jumped from $5 to $7 and questioned the taxi driver. Initially, the driver held his ground, but then told the doctor to pay the normal fare and forget about it.
The doctor decided to pay the meter fare of $7 with a credit card that created a traceable record and reported the problem to the taxi and limousine (TLC) commission. That was the start of the investigation.
The TLC investigation revealed that about three-fourths of all the city’s taxi drivers, more than 35,000 cabbies, had swindled riders out of $8.3 million.
This was a BIG scam and the majority of New York’s cabbies overcharged passengers according to the TLC.
…the city revealed that it believed the majority of licensed taxi drivers have been involved in a scheme to overcharge passengers. More than 35,000 drivers were accused of charging in-town passengers an out-of-town rate.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission sent details by e-mail. The Commission charged that price inflating lasting 26 months could have involved more than 35,000 drivers. That’s out of the city’s roughly 48,000 licensed hacks. The TLC said a few thousand perpetrated the scam repeatedly.
If you are taking a cab in New York City, here are the rules:
…the standard city rate is $.40 for one-fifth of a mile, and the number on the left of the fare box should read “1.” Out-of-town fare is $.80 for one-fifth of a mile, and the number should read “4.”
Rider beware.
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