Sounds good but like many things, the state gov’t will close the door after the barn door has opened. Surely serious penalties need to be advertised before bad bahviour has a chance to take place. Maybe that such behaviour by taxi drivers will lead to that vehicle’s deregistration as a taxi. Anything else is just a useless press release.
This is not my belief. This is a fact. I was overcharged and another taxi driver agrees. I am waiting to see him again and ask if he’ll put his views in writing, which can only assist my case with the so called Point to Point Transport Commissioner.
The fare is nowhere near the range according to my previous experience with traffic, and there was no traffic that Sunday afternoon. It is also way above Sydney Airport’s estimate, which I will use at any formal session, mediation etc.
Your claim that the fare was metered is unproved. I was never shown the meter. Not at the start nor at the end of the trip.
Your claim that the $20 is a good will gesture is false. At no time did I or the taxi company mention the word “goodwill”. The adverb used by both was “overcharging”.
As to your comment that I seek a confrontation, I suggest you google the taxi company and see just how many customers are in my boat. Not a single positive review! Overcharging and going the wrong way is repeated time and time again by hapless suckers like me who were taken for a ride. Literally.
If the offer is withdrawn then I look forward to taking the company to NCAT, where I will by then have identified earlier customers who will share my experience as well as the other taxi driver, see above who will back up my case. I will then seek a refund of the whole fare.
Thank you all for your contributions to this topic. As the matter has now been fully explored and that many ideas are being re-presented, the topic has been closed. Again, thank you for your contributions.
The report covers numerous issues including over charging, failure to use the meter and refusing short fares.
The complaints data, provided to Guardian Australia after a months-long delay while because some taxi operators opposed its release, shows that – from the beginning of December 2022 to June 2023 – the watchdog received 1,047 complaints with enough detail to identify drivers and refer the cases to operators to issue refunds and discipline drivers.
There are suggestions in The Guardian as to why the incident rate is so high and what further actions are required to change how it is. So far neither government nor the industry has stepped forward. BAU!
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In my experience the so called complaint register is a load of you know what.
Case in point: Earlier this year I took a taxi from the airport to home (near the city). It should be $50-$55 (assuming traffic) according to my previous trips and according to the Sydney Airport website.
I was charged $80. On a Sunday with very little traffic.
I complained to the cab company. They did nothing, other than try to blame the extra cost on my baggage. I had one bag!
I complained to NSW Fair Trading. After some time they got back to me saying they can’t help me and that I need to go to the Transport Commissioner (TC).
I did.
They looked into the matter.
Some time later they got back to me (by phone as they seem allergic to email) indicating they cannot force the company to repay me the $30 overcharge. Their ONLY job is to ensure the cab company contacts me. Looks like the cab industy wrote the regulations under which they are “policed”.
I told the TC that (i) I don’t need them to ensure the cab company gets hold of me. They already responded to me and (ii) they subsequently offered me $19 EFT refund, which I declined as it was short of the $30 overcharge and I did not want to give my banking details to what I consider an unsavoury operator. I asked for a cash refund as I paid in cash.
That was it. The TC closed its books.
Weeks later I again needed a cab from Sydney Airport. Again on a Sunday afternoon. Again with little traffic. Cost $53 for which I have the receipt.
Bottom line: unless cab operators are fined very heavily for overcharging (say am minimum of $5,000 for the first offence) and lose their taxi plate on the third offence, nothing but sweet nothing will change.
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For NSW the heart of the problem?
Taxi companies who spoke to the Guardian acknowledged the scale of the issue and lamented the deregulation of the taxi industry in 2017 meant operators no longer have access to a database showing a taxi driver’s record.
As an aside it could be worse (New Zealand): Taxicab regulators ‘asleep at the wheel’ over rogue cabbies
Noting taxi fares are unregulated. It’s up to the would be passenger to negotiate the basis of the fare before getting into the cab. Fail to do so and that 5 minute journey could cost much more than one would call reasonable. Taxi fares - cab and shuttle - Consumer NZ
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I heard about this report on radio yesterday. But according to friend who used to drive taxis, the blame for rogue drivers must not be sheeted home to the drivers themselves alone. It is a myth that such drivers act in such a manner without the knowledge and consent of the taxi cab owner.
How ever it is in reality, is it for Government to resolve, or the industry?
A take away from various news items over time is the NSW Taxi Industry was deregulated to enable it to compete on similar terms to Uber. The inference from the latest is the Taxi Operators are suggesting a return to some regulation - on condition Uber also is made to comply with the same regulations for it’s drivers.
Is Uber likely to see any such move as constructive? Noting it entered the transport industry with a business model intent on defying regulation and differentiation.
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On Friday 26th, I picked up members of our family at Sydney Airport. The Au Pair from Holland and one of the children went in a Taxi and the rest of us went to the 8th floor loaded the car with luggage and children and yet the taxi only arrived as we arrived at South Coogee. The taxi driver charged $73 for what is usually in the high 30s. Where he drove to get to South Coogee we don’t know. However, we feel that as the Au Pair was Dutch he heard her accent and decided to fleece her. What a great welcome to Sydney.
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One does not need to have a different accent to be taken the scenic route. Although these days a taxi driver does not need to know how to get to the destination. That’s what the smart phone or navigation device is for. Hence zero excuse for not going the best route by time and distance.
Having lived and worked in Sydney one can only guess how a 12km 20 minute journey to South Coogee on a public holiday turned into something that cost twice what it should. Any chance there is a receipt or other record/detail of the cab and Taxi Co.
Whether it is worth following up further - a personal choice. Providing the Taxi logged the fare the Cab Co should have a record matching the drop off point and time. For tax purposes every fare needs to be accounted for. YMMV.
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Many drivers seem to presuppose an accent means a ‘foreigner’ (eg minimally not familiar with Sydney, maybe a domestic or international tourist and especially so if accompanied by luggage). I was about to be ‘taken for a ride’ in a Sydney cab until I made sure the driver understood I knew my way around. The potentially scenic trip through the Eastern suburbs miraculously did a turn direct to the CBD where I was heading 
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Those who are unfamiliar with a city could fudge it by having Google Maps or a similar app open on their phone, showing the various routes and tracking current location, and making it clear to the driver that they know what the route should be and are noticing any divergence.
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My Daughter in law gave him an ear full, however, as it was outside of her house she has decided not to follow up as it is know where her house is. As she was talking to him through the passenger door he was trying to drive off, she had to warn him that he would drive over her foot if he drove off.
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Who knows if the meter was already running before the passenger got into the taxi at the airport. After a long flight, with pax half asleep, who is alert enough to check the meter once they thrown their cases in the boot and check they have not misplaced their passports and wallets.
The whole taxi business stinks.
Consumers really have no redress.
Fair Trading will respond to an inquiry, weeks after one lodges it. The response will be to go to the Point to Point Transport Commissioner. That office will do diddle squat.
That said, the Point to Point will roll out it’s big cheese to commercial radio, Sydney’s 2GB and encourage the public to complain about poor service. However no mention was made of penalties issued that would deter appalling behaviour. And the industry will confuse the issue by stating that “rogue” drivers are acting against the interest of the taxi plate owners. As if!
In fact Sydney Airport does not want to know about poor taxi driver behaviour or it would ban at least one objectionable company.
