Update: Cab Scam Riders To Be Reimbursed, TLC Says
New York City officials have discovered a widespread scam in which thousands of taxi drivers overcharged passengers by more than $8.3 million.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission said Friday that it had found at least 1.8 million trips over the past two years where passengers were ripped off.
Officials say drivers overcharged by illegally setting their meters at a rate they are supposed to use for trips to the suburbs. That rate is double the cost within city limits.
In a few weeks, taxi riders will see an alert when the extra rate code has been activated.
The commission has referred its findings to the Department of Investigation.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Beast Master 03.12.10 at 8:13 pm
All these drivers complaining that they don’t make any money are stupid. Cabbies have been taken in millions by rigging the meter!
Anonymous 03.12.10 at 8:49 pm
I just checked my my cab receipts, and most of them say “Nassau -West”….wtf
joe singh 03.13.10 at 12:50 am
1 million ripoffs,,maybe there will be no cab drivers left after they investigate.
Charles 03.13.10 at 4:02 am
Imagine, at least 1.8 million trips overcharged at double the rate. It seems these could not have been New Yorker riders who know the fares to where they usually go. Were these tourists? No one in the TLC could have established a practice of hotel doormen giving out little 2 X 7″ cards showing approximate fares from their hotels to various districts, just to give tourists an idea? At $195,000 a year salary, Mr. Daus couldn’t have designed little helper cards?
Charles 03.13.10 at 4:08 am
The TLC judge. Is this TLC’s own rubber-stamper for anything it dreams up? It seems that plenty of these schemes that separate a cabbie from his paycheck crosses the spirit of American law. If the TLC judge does not refer these edicts to the Manhattan District Attorney, what does that mean. What was that old phrase, prosecutor, judge, and jury all in one shot?.
Charles 03.13.10 at 4:38 am
1.8 million cheats only .005 percent. Practically zero, NOT the BIG CHEAT it seems. Stipulate only 30 trips per day (15 day 15 night) for every one of NYC’s 3,400 cabs, that is 402,000 trips a day. Even at this low estimated rate of total trips, the CHEAT trips only were 4 days out of 365 in a year. That means only .011 trips (or ONE PERCENT) of total NYC cabbie trips per year were cheats. But the period covered TWO YEARS says the website news release, and that means the CHEAT rate was actually ONE-HALF of ONE PERCENT a year (.005). While NO TRIP should have been a cheat, when you compare this error or cheat rate (some undoubtedly were errors) to other segments of society, it is GOOD!!!!!
But, if you double the stipulated daily trip rate for one cab to say 60 trips a day (30 day 30 night) to 804,000 total NYC cab trips a day, it would be only 2 days of trips out of the year (.005 or 1/2 of one percent), but it was over a two year period, thus it would be ONE QUARTER OF ONE PERCENT (.0025 percent) of total CHEAT trips per year. This would be a very very low rate of CHEATS, at the same time realizing the desired CHEAT rate is ZERO. Compare this cheat/error (some undoubtedly errors) to other segments of society, it is EXCELLENT!!!
Based on THESE NUMBERS, is it warranted for TLC or those “roaming” through cabbies’ cash registers and pay TO SEE IF ANYONE COMMITTED A CRIME warranted? NO, especially since the spirit of the federal law that NO law enforcement party can wait and watch, target someone or some segment, just to see if they have committed a crime. This invasion of a self-employed business person’s (a cabbie) cash register (the meter) goes against American freedom concepts. What does the TLC’s very own rubber-stamper judge say to that?
When you are evaluating whether a regulator is regulating in good faith or bad faith, these are things you look at. A good faith regulator would not want to do these things to cabbies and private drivers. Even if they could find a LOOPHOLE, they would not want to use it in GOOD FAITH.
WOW, from City Councilor to TLC commissioner, it seems that to boss around 56,000 slaves who do the work of the NYC cab business IS A VERY PLUM JOB!!!
For example, what is the rate of (error or cheat) of NYPD? Or patient treatment error (or deliberate) for a hospital? Is it as low as a cabbie cheat or error? How about City Council error or cheat rate?
Just asking.
winky 03.13.10 at 10:09 am
Nice! Way to go guys!
Fuck the system that fucks you everyday!
RadioFreeTaxi 03.13.10 at 10:59 pm
How many cabdrivers gotten cheated with additional 4.76 lease tax over the lease cap every day. How about those mandated bribery or tips for the dispatchers! It is all peanuts, but cabbies have to be in the news, and the good guys have a huge salary and able to do whatever, they wanted!
Zen 03.13.10 at 11:25 pm
They have to make headline news “Taxi Drivers Overcharged Riders by $6,3 M-plus” ! This is a big help for the riders, NOT TO TIP CABDRIVERS ANYMORE! Think about it! This is already happening to cabbies, less or no tips that all! It does not matter how nice to your riders. This is the number one reason why this in the news!
Zen 03.13.10 at 11:38 pm
More to read!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/nyregion/13taxi.html
Charles 03.14.10 at 12:21 am
Daus stepped down because he knew of this upcoming news of the ripoffs!
Charles T 03.14.10 at 5:58 pm
The 3/12 NYTimes article AT LEAST said: “The 1.8 million fares represent A TINY FRACTION of a total 360 million trips over the 26-month period in question.” Other media reporting did not mention that.
Instead of just letting the meter put a light on to indicate outside New York City, now the circus performance grows and grows. The article also said the TLC is going to fix it so the customer has to acknowledge the No. 4 rate on the screen in the back seat. You see more and more of the driver’s time taken, time equals money to the drivers.
Then they say, the GPS will do it automatically. The more the cab meter becomes a circus performance, the worse it is. Whatever happened to point A to Point B on the old meters?
I said before and say again, that a City Councilor, an attorney, was appointed commissioner of the TLC, a plum job, for someone who was on the House Committee on Crime under Charles Schumer, and a Law Professor, a PLUM JOB, means there is plenty of money that people are ready to take from the drivers’ hands. It is lucrative for those positioned to take from the drivers’ hands their pay.
johnson 03.15.10 at 4:00 pm
Everyday at lga & jfk thousand of people hasseling & stealing the job by unauthorisde driver no one is there to control that rubbery.
Charles T 03.15.10 at 4:16 pm
Cab scam riders to be reimbursed. And how will you identify the riders? Only if they used a cootie or dootie card, will you be able to identify the scammed rider. If I were a rider, I would resent it that anyone tracked down my private ride in a NYC taxi to say that I had been ripped off for $4 or $6 dollars. I would find this ludicrous and I wouldn’t like it. As I said before .0025 percent (1/4 of 1 percent) is a very very low cheat/error rate. Especially since 33,000 of the drivers who did overcharge only did so once, and that really must be mistake, pushing wrong button.
By the way, I went back to using Charles “T” but it didn’t help. I guess readers can tell WHO is writing what. I don’t used the terms: U, rip-offs, or crooked cabbies, I would no say those things. Also there is a certain style of bad grammer and poor choice of words I wouldn’t use.
Thus, I think you would know it is me, regardless of the name!!!
Brighton Beach Borenka 03.15.10 at 4:21 pm
Strikes do not change anything, negotiation, pleading, begging, pointing out inequities, they do not work. The only thing that will work is to bring to the Manhattan district attorney’s attention those inequities that are criminal. And plenty of them are. Bad faith negotiators always have an excuse or a loophole, and you would have to make it a full-time job to fight them, hard to do when you work 84 hours a week. Did I say work? On this type of work schedule the cab must be on auto-pilot, and certainly there is not much energy left over to take actions stated above in the first sentence. Better to refer it to the D.A.
Jose 03.15.10 at 8:15 pm
That all was a big lie. The last kick of this evil TLC chairman that I wish He never was born or his mother had an abortion before giving birth to such element. This is the guy who put on us the infamus 5% grand larceny credit card fee and the one who did not open his fricking mouth when the State imposed on us the 50 c MTA tax that so much is hurting our income. I repeat what I said so many times: I wish Him the worse of the worse in his next career and to be honest with You also in his personal life because all people who use his power to abuse working people like us does not deserve anything good in life and revange is a right that all of us who have been punish for no reason should wish on them, at least, at least. Jose
Charles T 03.16.10 at 3:27 am
Jose , you don’t wish people bad luck in their personal life. You rant against the TLC, they will get you one way or the other. The TLC will be you watcher. They will not say you are being ticketed for the offensive things that you write here. You will be ticketed for dirty cab, more than 12 hour shifts, and several other unlawful acts.You will once again be working in a bodega or selling hotdogs on 42 Street. Charles T
Charles T 03.16.10 at 7:51 am
Bad-faith, top-taxi regulator Bloomberg on CNN failed to ACCURATELY portray overcharging PROPORTIONS of New York City Yellow cabbies. On one side he needed to say that only ,0025 (one quarter) of one percent of NYC taxi rides were overcharged by $4.45 cents, out of 300 million plus NYC taxi rides in a year (Alliance spokeswoman also on CNN said 360 million NYC taxi rides in a yearI). Bloomberg also should have said out of 56,000 NYC drivers, only 3,000 were repeaters in overcharging, that is 5 percent of cabbies. This low incidence, Bloomberg should have said, should make NYC taxi riders feel CONFIDENT they have a very low chance of being overcharged, especially now special meter rates to the suburbs have been highlighted world wide. Further, if one-time overcharging by 33,000 cabbies were REMOVED from statistics, it would bring the .0025 percent rate of overcharging even lower. Bloomberg should have qualified the foregoing statement by saying despite the low incidence, only ZERO overcharging is an acceptable rate.
INSTEAD, Mayor Bloomberg, his big chance on CNN 24 hour cable tv news, chose to present the miniscule overcharging as high crimes and misdemeanors that would impeach President Obama himself. Bloomberg then proceeded to say the City intends to reimburse all of those overcharged (by $4.45); but unfortunately he will only be able to do reimburse riders who used cards. Thereby, Mayor Bloomberg used his photo-speaking opportunity on CNN to promote cootie and dootie card use. And this makes you wonder right there whether there is some fractional percent of the 5% taken out and given to Bloomberg or the City, and if so, why isn’t it public knowledge?
As I said before, I would find it a privacy invasion for the TLC to be looking over all the fares and determining who, by card user, is going to get $4.45 back, whether they want it or not. Some may not want it.
And then, another thought, suppose the card user has canceled the card used, but the $4.45 needs to be refunded by the card merchants, will they search down the individual and issue a check, or will there be a nebulous $4.45 floating around somewhere for SOMEONE to confiscate? Maybe those $4.45 fares will be given to the TLC as a lump sum (to track down by investigator each foremer card holder)?
Nothing is simple, and that is how bad-faith regulators succeed, and continue to succeed.
Thus, you can see that Bloomberg, given the photo-speak opportunity by CNN used it to portray HIMSELF as mayor. Terrible cabbie crimes, and I will try to reimburse every rider overcharged. Bloomberg taking a political stance that is designed to keep those voters voting for him. How many more terms for Bloomberg, Mr. Yassky? As long as Bloomberg is choosing the TLC commissioners, then Bloomberg is the ultimate taxi regulator, “the buck stops here.”
What Bloomberg actually did is portray New York City as a cheating city, to prospective tourists and business travelers around the world. It was negative.
Jose 03.16.10 at 9:16 pm
I never worked in a bodega and even less selling hotdogs. The thing I am spaniard origin does not mean I have to work those jobs, ok? Before writing those things learn about me, ok? I say what I think about the TLC or whoever I want. We are still in a free country as far as I knw, Charlie!!! and I say still because tha way We are going sooner than later is going to be a fascist dictatorship regretebly if people think like U and other that You cannot talk against certain institutions or persons. Jose
Zen 03.17.10 at 8:13 pm
Cabbie Call-In:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2010/03/17/segments/151863
Jose 03.18.10 at 7:18 pm
Well, Charlie, I am a cab driver and I want to be free and in order to be free We have to talk and express our opinions freely and without any fear to the burocrats in the TLC so if U really r a cab driver I challange U without any fear and if U have a pair of volts between your legs to express your ideas and write your name and hack number right now,yes, Charlie, without any fear. Fear to fear itself, tha’s what FDR told us in 1933. Remember a little bit of History if U went to school? Jose
Zen 03.20.10 at 9:32 pm
More to read! Comment #4 !
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/refunds-from-taxi-scam-not-likely-mayor-says/#comment-640333
Zen 03.20.10 at 9:41 pm
Friday, March 19, 2010
Listen to archived radio show! http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/media/2010/03-19-10-worrs.mp3
Charles T 03.21.10 at 11:40 am
To Zen. The computer I use does not have a sound card, nor the capability like some to run some foreign country’s news station 24/7.
So these radio programs, call in’s, I cannot access. It would be helpful if you briefly described the important point of it, about cabbies, TLC, Bloomberg, taxi
rental garages, etc. I am sure others access this website with old computer that
are not powerful in today’s standards.
You tease my curiousity, what was on the program?
Whats the problem 03.21.10 at 6:30 pm
I don’t understand. the city says almost 2 million rides were overcharged correct? i don’t know but the rates must be so low that even in overcharging some fares the fare must have been acceptable to the 1,999,997 other riders that didnt complain. one can come to the conclusion that the rates of taxi fare are too low. as a matter of fact if you check the fares for other east coast major cities you will see the rates of fare are the lowest of all the major eastcoast cities, washington dc, boston, etc. new york city has no interest in having its citizens pay a fare taxi rate and this is obvious. the 45,000 drivers are being exploited by a city goverment who has no interest in protecting the civil rights of these hard working immigrants. someday a civil rights attorney or the american civil liberties union will look at this modern day slavery and take up the just cause of these exploited immigrant slaves.
Zen 03.21.10 at 7:40 pm
To Charles! – Cabbie Call-In, you must hear it! I will tell Mark to upgrade your computer with the sound card, or burn it to CD and send it to you!
Charles T 03.21.10 at 8:45 pm
To Zen. Likely plenty of drivers are not so computer heavy, it would be nice if you
could write a description so we could read it, the interesting call-in topics.
This computer is not being changed for a while, the cab business is very poor,
driven poorer by cootie and dootie cards.
Charles T 03.22.10 at 3:50 am
Total rides in 1 year: 300,000,000 plus, not 1,999,997. 1,800,000 overcharged riders is 1/4 of one percent of a year’s riders. One quarter of 1 percent is .25, and one half of 1 percent is .5. If there are 60 trips/cab a day, only .25 of 1 percent of riders were overcharged. That leaves 99.75 percent of riders were given HONEST RIDES. All Bloomberg did on the air CNN and newspapers was scare New York City cab riders to death, and create unrest and tension in tourist and business visitors, and those around the world planning a trip to New York. Bloomberg and the TLC has cast the 45,000 or 56,000 cabbies in a bad light.
Charles T 03.22.10 at 4:23 am
Sorry to say, I think the cab business has come to an end for private drivers in major cities, how many NYC private drivers seems unknown. Fleet rental garages have understated the number of their medallions. Some of you say 1/2 owned by private drivers, 1/2 owned by fleet rental garages. Some reports say only 35% are owned by fleet rental garages, a gross misrepresentation. Others say fleet rental garages own most of the medallions.
But, for the private driver I think it is all over. Jeff Greenbaum and his partition tv sets and spyglass eyes seem to have taken over every aspect of the cab. He is in charge. But, NYC (TLC?) has Request for Proposals (RFPs) out for the best new cab vehicle to require. If it turns out it is the Ford Transit Connect CNG, plenty of private drivers don’t want to drive it, and riders will not want to ride in it. A bus is different, riders don’t seem to care about CNG buses. Another part of the RFP requirements for a new cab model is all kinds of wireless equipment manufacturer standard under the dashboard coming with it. Those private drivers no longer have any control of their cab, their self-employed business they have devoted their lives to. It is the fleet rental garages who get together with TLC in all the major cities, and want all this stuff, so they can get more money out of the cabbies’ pay (thru credit card percents) and SO WHEN the cab keeps changing and becoming more technical it is only the fleet rental garages who can afford to fix them, know how to fix them, so PRIVATE DRIVERS WILL HAVE TO SELL THEIR MEDALLIONS to the fleet rental garages because they can no longer control the repairs of their own vehicles. The privates can no longer meet the economic model the fleet rental garages has colluded with the TLC to REQUIRE. (more and more rental bribes and tips)
A fleet rental garage is different. They don’t care what the cab looks like, or is like for a cabbie renter, because the fleet rental garage owners do not drive a cab, they make their millions in vehicle rentals. As long as the numbers play out for them, fleet rental garages don’t care if a mummy is driving the cab, and that is exactly what they treat the cabbies like.
It is a funny thing, when the final CIRCUS CONTRAPTION designed by the TLC is out and in service, who will be driving them? A new set of no-money cabbies, people so disadvantaged they will drive a 12 hour shift for a $40 profit. Then the TLC and Bloomberg will be claiming the opposite: these are new no-money cabbies wonderful people, while the safe cabbies of old were “bad cheaters.”
It is obvious that neither cabbies nor private drivers can win, they can’t win for losing, as the saying goes.
However, it might be final retribution for Jeff Greenbaum if he is replaced by the newly established requirement vehicle for NYC cabs which will come already with the wireless, spyglass, and card business under the dashboard. Unfortunately the CREDIT CARD BANKERS have gone after and hooked the cab business worldwide taking a big percent of gross cab driver intake. All the rest of the business world would put up too much of a stink if such a percentage loss of their pay were REQUIRED OF THEM, So the BIG BANKER JAMUCKS went after someone who couldn’t fight back. Someone who works 12 hours a day in their cabs, whose mind and body is too tired to fight them the way they should be fought. The Alliance, scaredy cats they are, should have brought this criminal credit card theft from cabbies’ pay to the district attorney.
At this point the robbers and thieves have made such inroads into the cab business and cabbies’ pay, I see no way out. There are rumors that Jeff Greenbaum has bought his way into the cab business in other cities. He is taking over not only the inside of the cabs but the cab business!!! Find another job or another business as fast as you can. The cab business has become too corrupt, not the cabbies. If you are old and supporting yourself, just give up, and go on the government dole. Let some unsafe idiot drive NYC’s new circus vehicle, and make $40 a shift profit, giving at least $5 to the renter!!!
Charles T 03.22.10 at 4:27 am
Feel free to take any of my comments as your own, if you wish, and bring them to the radio shows and call-in cabbie shows, and other websites. If you agree with any of my comments, make them yours, and take up the banner. I hope some of my comments have value and will be taken up by others. But as I said, I think too many inroads have been made by the greedy, corrupt and criminal non-driving people in the cab business, and those who are parasites on the cab business, like Jeff Greenbaum. At this point, I don’t think any cabbies can do any thing except get out.
Charles T 03.22.10 at 4:29 am
Plenty of cabbies are not acclimated to listening to these shows by computer or radio. I hope you all will write up the interesting and pertinent parts for this websites so they can be informed.
Charles T 03.22.10 at 1:21 pm
TLC says scam less than thought. You mean that 99.75 of the honest cabbies, leaving .25 of one percent thought to be dishonest, of those now a significant number did not overcharge anyone, because they pressed the wrong button at
the end of trip, because that button is next to the suburb button.
Well, is Mayor Bloomberg and the TLC GOING TO STICK UP for the now probably 99.95 cabbies who are honest. To push that NEWS which is good news, and temper the bad news as to .05 of trips were charged an extra $4.45?
You know, this is a very good honest rate for New York city, practically
negligible. I have talked to cabbies in other cities, and they say they KNOW their
city has a MUCH higher dishonesty rate than that. Who is going to go on the trumpet and horn and tell all the media, change the impression?
Charles T 03.22.10 at 1:23 pm
I only had a second, a cabbie showed me the ten pictures of the cabbies who
did the most cheating. I’ll have to buy the NY Post later today. Other cities do
not go public with the names and pictures of those caught cheating whether airport dispatchers, or just ordinary cabbies. They keep it secret. It is not good to keep
it secret.