A Dublin taxi man has hit out at “rogue” drivers reportedly taking advantage of people trying to get home after Christmas night’s out.
Describing the practice as “disgusting”, he told how he has been made aware of “a collection of rogue taxi men” refusing to accept fares or asking for money up front.
Neil Murray shared a video on his popular TikTok account warning people about the practice. He issued tips to his 14,000 followers on what to do if anyone finds themselves in that situation.
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He explained: “There’s a collection of rogue taxi men out there at night time which is messing with the likes of myself and good taxi men. Now, there’s a hell of a lot of us good taxi men out there, there really is.
“Apparently, what I’ve been told in the car is, you come up to a taxi man at the rank, you get in the car, he asks where are you going, you tell them where you're going, and he says, no I'm not going there and they tell you to get out.”
Giving advice on what someone could do in that situation, he continued: “What I think you could do is,if you get into taxi and you tell him where you're going and he says he’s not going that way and he's on the rank, you say to him, well you have to take me there. I have your plate number, I’m going to report you.
“He has to take you, I think it’s over 21km he can refuse to take you, but if he’s on the rank, he has to take you where you want to go.”
However he cautioned: “There has to be a collection of people with you to do this.”
Alternatively, he suggested: “If you don’t want any confrontation with him, get out of the car, make sure you have the plate number on the roof, report him to National Transport Authority."
Going to on explain reports of crook taxi drivers overcharging, he continued: “Now, if you’re going to a place and he likes that, but says the metres not going on, he could tell you it’ll be €50, €60 and that could be only to Tallaght or Crumlin. They're telling you price up front, which is probably quadruple what it’s going to be on the meter. Now that’s disgusting if you ask me.
“What you can say there is, it’s not going to be €50 quid, you put the metre on pal, I have your plate number and I have you recording. Now there's two things you can do, you can take me there, or you can not take me there and I’m going to send this voice recording to the NTA.
“They’re out there, it's horrible, it’s disgusting.”
Finally he suggested anyone in a position to have family members collect them after a night out should use that option.
He said: “If you're going out at night, on a Christmas party, try and get a family member to pick you up. It’s extremely helpful in that situation.”
This comes just weeks after transport chiefs slammed rogue taxi drivers who are illegally charging customers extra euros to accept card payments.
The Irish Mirror previously reported that some unscrupulous drivers are making a quick extra buck by slapping on a new extra fee for accepting payment by ‘tapping’ your contactless card.
A taxi driver now cannot refuse payment by card under new EU rules, but nor can they charge you any extra under the new regulation.
It is mandatory for all taxi drivers to accept payment by card for all fares since September 1st.
However, the Irish Mirror learned that the ‘extra charge’ practice has emerged, and that it is more common among late night passengers who may have been out for the night.
The only extra charges a taxi can legally charge you is the “callout” fee and a charge per extra passenger, or in rare circumstances, a soilage charge.
The National Transport Authority said the new extra charge for cards is not allowed under the new regulations and a spokesman said that they are receiving complaints about the new swindle.
A spokesman for the NTA told the Mirror: “A taxi driver cannot charge an extra fee for the use of a credit/debit card.
“An EU directive in 2018 prohibited any surcharges for the use of personal credit/debit cards. “The current charges that can be applied by taxi drivers are set out in the Taxi Regulation (Maximum Fares) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 293/2022).
“The driver can apply an ‘extra’ charge only for those items listed in this order:
Booking fee: €2
Additional passenger charge: Each adult passenger after the first (or, after the first free child, for each additional two children under 12 years of age) €1.00
Soiling Charge (where applicable) : The reasonable cost of remedying the soiling, up to a maximum of €140.00
"NTA would encourage anybody who comes across this to report it to us through the TFI site."
Any passenger who has been conned and charged an extra ‘card charge’ can lodge a complaint at this link.
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