"Complaining has done nothing": Why taxis continue to refuse to take short fares
The NSW Taxi Council wants to take a tougher stance on drivers who refuse to take passengers short distances which result in short fares, but people are saying that the taxi council are part of the problem.
Many readers shared their experiences with news.com.au with drivers refusing to take passengers short distances.
“Few weeks ago, I tried to get a cab at 2 am in the city to Leichhardt (in Sydney’s inner west) and two drivers wouldn’t open doors and then drove off,” Scott Rhodie wrote.
“I called the cab company, but they didn’t care.”
The NSW Taxi Council wants to help deal with the problem and is aware that it’s an issue that faces the industry.
“It is definitely an issue within our industry and it’s something we take quite seriously,” the body’s deputy chief executive Nick Abrahim told news.com.au.
“We want to tackle it head on and try and deal with it … because it’s not in the interest of good customer service.”
Some people say that the Taxi Council is a part of the problem.
“The ‘Taxi Council’ is actually a huge part of the problem,” said one reader.
“Did absolutely zero for years — them and their partners never disciplined drivers. As an owner I can tell you that there are drivers working for the biggest Sydney taxi company who have multiple complaints.”
Another reader said, “The moral is the taxi industry has no shortage of feedback on what needs to change for them to remain competitive, but they refuse to act.”
Despite the Taxi Council being aware of the issue, readers are annoyed nothing is being done.
“People have been complaining about this for years and been raising it with the taxi industry,” another reader said.
“You know what, you didn’t care then so what’s going to be different now?
“The only difference now is that there is a better model that you DON’T want to compete with because you're a lazy expecting industry.”
Abrahim is trying to let people know that there are procedures in place in order to stamp out the behaviour that leaves passengers stranded on the side of the road.
Any driver whose reported for avoiding short fares would be pilled in and given a counselling session if they were a first-time offender whereas repeat offenders could face instant dismissal.
Abrahim admitted there were issues that needed to be faced but said that “everyone in the chain needs to do their part”. This is because complainants used to be able to complain directly to the NSW government but now have to complain straight to the taxi company.
“The rules of the game have changed with regards to how a customer makes a complaint,” he said. “It’s a tighter and more informal process.”
“Everyone in the chain needs to do their part,” he said.
“The accountability needs to happen on all levels. The message needs to get through that we want to stamp out this behaviour and, in some cases, we need to get tougher.”