Transport chiefs have slammed rogue taxi drivers who are illegally charging customers extra to accept card payments.
Dublin Live has learned some unscrupulous cabbies are making an extra buck by slapping on an 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 1. However, Dublin Live has learned that the “extra charge” practice has emerged and is more common among late night passengers. The only extra charges a taxi can legally ask for is the callout fee, a charge per extra passenger or soilage charge.
Read more: RTE Liveline listeners hear of Dublin taxi scam that robbed man of phone and €1300
The National Transport Authority said the charge for cards is not allowed. A spokesman said they are receiving complaints about it. One customer got in touch with Dublin Live and told how his fare for €17 had an extra €1 tacked on when he produced his debit card to pay.
He said: “I thought it was strange, but as it was late at night, I just asked him why, he said it was ‘a new charge for cards’ and I just accepted it. It was only the next day that I realised he’d pulled a fast one.”
The NTA has called on anyone who has been fleeced on extra charges to take the name and PSV number of the taxi driver and report them. A spokesman added: “Since the ‘cashless option’ requirement became law on 1st September, we have had more than 100 complaints regarding drivers’ refusal to accept cashless payments or not having a cashless payment device in the taxi. However, not many of those would be about drivers trying to charge extra.”
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