Cabbies who "rip off" passengers during the holiday period by turning off their meters should be dobbed in, NSW Transport Minister David Elliott says.
Mr Elliott sent a warning shot over the unethical practice of taxi drivers negotiating prices for passengers in a hurry without turning on their meter.
"I get examples daily from taxi riders who have been gazumped by taxi drivers and I just think that is extremely ungrateful for an industry that this government has gone in to bat for," he told reporters on Friday.
In a pointed message ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations, Mr Elliott urged taxi drivers to uphold their professional standards.
"Don't rip off fellow Sydneysiders. Make sure you do the right thing," he said.
"There's going to be plenty of work and you know Sydneysiders can be pretty generous. You might actually get a tip."
The NSW Taxi Council accepted a $905 million package last month that compensated drivers for vastly-devalued taxi plates in the face of competition with popular ride-share apps such as Uber.
Under the revamped scheme, compensation is now $150,000 for Sydney taxi plates and $40,000 to $195,000 for regional plate holders.
For passengers, it means paying an extra 20 cents per trip and paying a levy beyond the original end date of June 2029.
With a 10-per-cent GST charge on top, the levy's true cost will be $1.32 per trip.
An amendment cementing these changes was passed in the final few weeks of parliament sitting.
The minister urged the public to report dodgy drivers on a 24-hour hotline attached to the Point to Point Transport Commissioner.
"We want to make sure that if anybody has been the victim of dodgy drivers, then they need to ring that Point to Point Commissioner hotline and dob them in," he said.
A fine of $300 applies for failure to use the meter.
Mr Elliott vowed to enforce the law with on-the-spot fines if drivers were found in breach but said the industry's governing body also had a "moral obligation" and "social licence" to crack down on the unethical practice.
New powers instituted in November allow the Commissioner to have undercover officers target taxi drivers negotiating or refusing fares.
"The reason why Uber has come into the market with such success is because the taxi industry, we all know it, has let itself down," Mr Elliott said.
"That's why we wanted to make sure that the transition from a highly regulated industry to an essentially deregulated industry was fair but it also had to have taxpayers' obligations in mind."
