Flickr Photo by Tomas Fano

It was recently reported that New York taxi riders have been ripped off by drivers to the tune of $8 million dollars. The New York Post reported as follows.

Cabbies have illegally scammed unsuspecting riders out of a staggering $8.3 million by manually switching the meter to rates that only apply when they are driving outside the city, officials said.

In a bomshell report issued by the Taxi and Limousine Commission this afternoon, the agency said it uncovered that drivers illegally overcharged passengers by switching the meter from Rate Code 1 (the default setting used for trips inside the five boroughs) to Rate Code 4 (a higher rate only used for travel in Westchester or Nassau counties when cabs leave the city).

Oh my. How disappointing. After all these years of improvements to the taxi system in the city there are still drivers looking to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting riders. The thing is, this kind of fraud likely affects locals as well as tourists. I’ll admit that I never pay much attention to the numbers on the meter if I’m in a cab. I pay even less attention if the trip is a short one. But something like this can easily turn a $4 trip into an $8 trip. It may not be a lot of money but stealing is stealing. And it likely affects the amount of money you would spend elsewhere. What’s a taxi rider to do? Keep an eye on that meter!

Flickr Photo by Thomas Hawk

In the photo above you can see the number 1 on the far left side of the meter. That means you’re being charged the “within city limits” fare. If you’re in any of the five boroughs of New York that’s what you should see. If you’re in the city and see a number 4 there then you are getting ripped off. If you notice something like that you should alert the driver and ask him to change the fare code. If the driver refuses or gives you a hard time tell them to stop the cab but only after you’ve captured the info from their license which should be displayed on the dashboard. You can dial 311, which is the city’s all purpose information and problem reporting hotline, to report the rip off.

As great a place as New York is you always have to be aware when spending your money. I must also state that these sorts of things go on all over the world. I remember being in Prague and having to tell the taxi driver, “Taximeter prosim,” so he would run the meter instead of overcharging me a flat rate for my trip. After all what’s fare is fare. [Pun intended ;-)]