Transport chiefs have slammed rogue taxi drivers who are illegally charging customers extra euros to accept card payments.
The Irish Mirror has learned that some unscrupulous drivers are making a quick extra buck by slapping on a new extra fee for accepting payment by ‘tapping’ your contactless card.
A taxi driver now cannot refuse payment by card under new EU rules, but nor can they charge you any extra under the new regulation.
READ MORE: Can you pass our Irish citizenship test?
It is mandatory for all taxi drivers to accept payment by card for all fares since September 1st.
However, the Irish Mirror has learned that the ‘extra charge’ practice has emerged, and that it is more common among late night passengers who may have been out for the night.
The only extra charges a taxi can legally charge you is the “callout” fee and a charge per extra passenger, or in rare circumstances, a soilage charge.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) said the new extra charge for cards is not allowed under the new regulations and a spokesman said that they are receiving complaints about the new swindle.
One disgruntled customer got in touch with the Irish Mirror and told how his fare for €17 subsequently had an extra €1 tacked on when he produced his debit card to pay.
Whe he asked the driver why, he said the driver told him it was “a new charge for cards.”
The NTA has rubbished this claim and is calling on anyone who has been fleeced on extra charges to take the name and PSV number of the taxi driver and report them.
The NTA has a complaints portal and any passengers who feel they have been done can contact the transport watchdog at the email shown below.
The passenger who noticed the extra ‘card charge’ on a night out last weekend told the Mirror last night: “I thought it was strange, but as it was late at night, I just asked him why, he said it was ‘a new charge for cards’ and I just accepted it.
“It was only the next day that I realised he’d pulled a fast one.”
A spokesman for the NTA told the Mirror: “A taxi driver cannot charge an extra fee for the use of a credit/debit card.
“An EU directive in 2018 prohibited any surcharges for the use of personal credit/debit cards. “The current charges that can be applied by taxi drivers are set out in the Taxi Regulation (Maximum Fares) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 293/2022).
“The driver can apply an ‘extra’ charge only for those items listed in this order:
Booking fee: €2
Additional passenger charge: Each adult passenger after the first (or, after the first free child, for each additional two children under 12 years of age) €1.00
Soiling Charge (where applicable) : The reasonable cost of remedying the soiling, up to a maximum of €140.00
NTA would encourage anybody who comes across this to report it to us through the TFI site.
“Since the ‘cashless option’ requirement became law on 1st September, we have had more than 100 complaints regarding drivers’ refusal to accept cashless payments or not having a cashless payment device in the taxi.
“However, not many of those would be about drivers trying to charge extra.”
Any passenger who has been conned and charged an extra ‘card charge’ can lodge a complaint at this link.
READ NEXT :
Tributes to young dad killed in Irish road crash on way to visit ill brother
Full list of people eligible for Christmas bonus due from December 5
Warning in place for six counties as Met Eireann forecasts temperature plunge
Vicky Phelan's husband's stunning tribute read at moving memorial service
Matt Hancock faces furious calls for him to quit as MP as Jill Scott wins
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
