Watch out, cabbies. Your next fare could be an undercover agent for the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, posing as a passenger to check for rule violations. That includes a rule that passengers must be able to pay by credit card in certain cabs and a rule barring cabbies from chatting on cellphones while driving.
The commission said on Wednesday that it would send out 60 to 100 undercover agents each day as part of an ongoing sting operation, which it is calling Operation: Secret Rider. Matthew W. Daus, the commission’s chairman, said that agents will board cabs posing as normal riders and instruct the cabby to take a trip of about 10 blocks. Afterward the agents will insist on paying with a credit card.
If the drivers refuse to allow the credit card payment, they will be fined. The commission last year began requiring cabs to install a package of high tech gear, including credit card readers. About 65 percent of cabs have already converted and the commission expects all cabs to have the equipment by the middle of this year.
But many passengers have complained that cabbies frequently resist taking credit cards, sometimes falsely claiming that the card reader is broken or that they do not have to accept card payments. “The word on the street from New Yorkers is that there are still some service issues with the cab drivers,” Mr. Daus said. “I felt this was a good time to go back to the basics.”
He said that agents will fine drivers who break the rules. That includes being discourteous (a $150 fine) or talking on a cellphone while driving (a $200 fine). Refusing credit card payment can carry a fine as high as $350.
The commission also announced on Wednesday that credit card use is slowly increasing, although cards are still used to pay for only a small percentage of overall taxi trips.
In cabs that had credit card readers, cards were used to pay for 5.3 percent of trips taken in December, the commission said. That was an increase from 4.7 percent of trips in November and 4.3 percent of trips in October.
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howard e. morseburg 04.18.08 at 12:16 am
Think seriously about that. The Cabbie pays 5% off the top every time he/she runs a card throug the machine. Depending upon his profit, that will mean about 10% of the profit for the ride.
Meantime, to make sure that up to 75% of the riders will use plastic, the Credit Card Cartel offers his passengers a bribe (points or Air Miles, etc.) to use it, rather than cash.
To estimate your costs, figure out your monthly gross, take 50% of it as plastic, then 5% of that amount will give you a rough estimate. Some small businesses pay more than $1,000 a month bank charges.
Go to: http://www.howardsviews.com/Cabs.htm
Charles T 02.06.10 at 9:19 am
The TLC obviously went whole hog with the advertising credit card vendors. And a lot of grease must have been spread around. It was nothing to them to take a percent of gross cabbie pay, but then a 15 to 20% of net driver pay (after shift costs). If you count in apartment and utilities probably the gross percent turns into 60% because no one has talked about taxes, dental, co-pays and other costs of daily living. A cabbie cannot exist unless he has a wife with health insurance options. Then, how is the cabbie getting his credit card reimbursement? Is it through those debit cards that charge $1.50 for a withdrawal? Some cabbies with lots of kids and expenses close to the ground need to take it out as soon as it is available. How about commuting costs? But another major cost, CREDIT CARD SCAM LOSS. Here’s what some are doing. There are dead spots in the city especially when the satellite signals need to go through big and high buildings; and increasingly riders know where these are. Pull up another 2 feet. Okay, read errors, and nothing will change it. Is the cabbie going to make a life out of the $27 fare, waiting for police to finish their card game before they get there, and tell the cabbie to get the money from the credit card vendor? It is a shame with the need for police in crime and city patrol, to have to spend time collecting a fare the rider is insisting is available but due to the cabbie’s machine will not work. This is a scam, and likely the rider knows it. Also, people are buying or getting as gifts the visas or mastercards from the supermarket. When these run out and have no more money on them, the rider runs the card across that de-magnatizing square at cash registers. Now they run the card and NOTHING happens. Ooops. Free fares.
All of this shows that money-focused pie in the sky regulators care only about money and their reflections, and no opression of the cab driver is too much, and no theft from their pay right out of their hands is too much. Cabbies cannot afford to lose 1 cent out of their hands.