Why your taxi ride home this Christmas could end in CHAOS – and for the most bizarre reason

Christmas partygoers are facing mayhem as they go home from festive celebrations with many taxi drivers refusing to accept the industry’s own Cabcharge payments.

The traditional form of local corporate travel has been blacklisted by cabbies over the surcharge costs which eat into their profits.

Now passengers are being turned away if they try to pay by Cabcharge, and even dumped back at their pick up point if they pull out their Cabcharge card mid-journey. 

One regular cab user, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia Melbourne cabbies were now treating Cabcharge customers like ‘poison’. 

‘They don’t want it. In fact, they’re openly hostile to it,’ he said. 

The cab user claimed a driver this week turned his car around on approach to the Westgate Freeway and drove him back into the city when he was told the fare was being paid by Cabcharge. 

‘He initially claimed his machine was broken, but he would accept credit cards,’ said the passenger. 

‘When I pressed him about it, he confessed Cabcharge’s cut of the profits made the fare not worth his while.’

Dumped back at a city taxi rank, the customer was rejected three further times by drivers until one finally accepted the $100-plus fare. 

Another regular cab user, George, told Daily Mail Australia drivers reject the new credit card-style Cabcharge because they couldn’t doctor the amounts like they could on the old paper vouchers. 

‘On the old Cabcharges they’d just grab a pen and enter new totals on the docket and your unsuspecting employer would just cop it,’ the corporate big wig said. 

‘They’re a bunch of crooks.’

Cabcharge claims taxis that have a sticker declaring ‘We proudly accept Cabcharge’ should accept Cabcharge.

‘Yeah well they don’t,’ the cab user slammed. 

Cabcharge states users must ask the driver if they plan to accept the card before jumping inside. 

 ‘If you don’t see the decal, simply ask the driver before getting into the taxi. If the driver does not accept Cabcharge, you can move on to the next taxi in line,’ it states.

Cabcharge’s name in the taxi industry has long been held in contempt. 

In 2010, Cabcharge admitted it had taken advantage of its position in the market to refuse requests from competitors in 2005 and 2008 to process Cabcharge cards on their electronic payments systems.

Cabcharge also admitted to ‘predatory pricing’ by installing its fare meters for free or below cost, squeezing rivals out further.

Just months ago, Perth radio breakfast presenter Steve Mills teed off on taxi drivers for refusing fares from Cabcharge users at the airport. 

‘If that’s the kind of greeting that people are getting when visiting our state, that’s not acceptable, that’s not good enough,’ he blasted on air.

‘You can understand why many might transgress over the line and go to a ridesharing service.’ 

In May, Cabcharge announced it was cracking down on dodgy taxi drivers who turned off their meters and jacked up fares. 

It came via the way of an in-vehicle payment device directly connected to the taxi meter.

The move got the thumbs-up from the nation’s most extensive taxi networks, including 13cabs, Black & White Cabs, Silver Service, Swan Taxis, and SilverTop Taxis.

But rogue drivers hellbent on avoiding Cabcharge’s cut of the fare have seemingly found a very basic way around the dedicated device. 

‘They simply say it’s broken,’ one customer said.

‘Don’t use taxis. As s*** as Uber is, at least the entire fare process is open and transparent, and if there are any discrepancies it’s easy to get refunded,’ another wrote in an online forum. 

‘I can’t believe in 2024 and taxis still rely on you paying for the trip at the end.’