By Henrietta Cook and Nick McKenzie
The Allan government will review the use of Cabcharge products at taxpayer-funded organisations across Victoria following revelations of widespread rorting that have been blasted by one major hospital as “utterly disgraceful, unethical and unacceptable”.
Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams said the comprehensive review would look at the procurement of Cabcharge products to “strengthen the current checks and balances in place to further protect passengers”.
Victorian Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams.Credit: Penny Stephens
“Preying on vulnerable Victorians who depend on taxi services is disgraceful behaviour and drivers can face significant penalties for breaching the rules, including a fine of up to $11,855 for overcharging,” she said.
The intervention follows an investigation by this masthead that revealed many cab drivers using payment systems and products from Australia’s largest taxi company, A2B, were fraudulently charging customers including government-funded organisations that fund trips for the elderly, disabled and sick.
A2B owns 13cabs, Silver Service and Cabcharge, as well as providing payment and booking services for taxis across Australia.
Victoria’s largest health service, Monash Health, said it was set to stop using Cabcharge products at its hospitals after taxi drivers exploited some of its most vulnerable patients for monetary gain.
“Monash Health has detected multiple fraudulent Cabcharge fares through its fraud detection and auditing processes,” a spokesman told this masthead.
He said the health service was still trying to claw back money that it had been fraudulently charged.
“We continue to recover funds for proven fraudulent charges and are in the process of introducing a new paperless system to support vulnerable patients [to] commute home safely. The planned and deliberate attempts of some drivers to use vulnerable people for monetary gain is utterly disgraceful, unethical and unacceptable.”
Monash Health has slammed the taxi rort as “utterly disgraceful, unethical and unacceptable”.Credit: Wayne Hawkins
While a leaked email from A2B dated December 2022 shows that the hospital disputed 41 fraudulent charges, this masthead understands that this number is expected to grow.
Hospitals hand out cab charges to vulnerable patients, who are often elderly or have a disability and have no other way of getting home after surgery or an admission.
It’s understood that one taxi driver using A2B services charged a Melbourne hospital $298 for a patient’s 800-metre taxi journey home.
In another case, a blind patient travelling home from hospital was refused a receipt upon request. Her hospital was overcharged for the taxi trip.
The scams usually involve drivers exploiting loopholes in the terminal and payment systems, which A2B provides to them for a fee. They have also involved gaming Cabcharge fare payment products which are supplied to state and federal agencies, companies, hospitals and other health and disability services.
A file dated December 2022 reveals how the Victorian Maroondah Hospital’s account was ripped off 774 times, nationwide aged and disability care company Villa Maria Catholic Homes 453 times, rehabilitation facility the Peter James Centre in Melbourne 342 times, and Gosford RSL in NSW 432 times.
They were among 40 clients, including many that rely on Cabcharge products, that A2B identified as having been scammed about 6000 times collectively.
Ku-Ring-Gai Neighbourhood Centre, a not-for-profit community organisation in NSW that provides support to elderly and disabled people, discovered it had been a victim of around 115 fraudulent charges in October 2022.
Staff decided to audit the organisation’s Cabcharge statements after noticing a significant discrepancy in the cost of taxi journeys for elderly clients.
Many of these clients, who were aged between 65 and almost 100 years old, travelled to the same location every week, often for medical appointments and social engagements.
“They might have been going for dialysis three times a week and they would always go to the same place and call a taxi,” a spokesperson for the centre said. “We noticed that the cost varied all the time, sometimes it would be quite high.”
The spokesperson said there would be a $20 to $40 variation for the same trip. “It all adds up when there has been a lot of trips,” they said.
A2B reimbursed the centre for almost $8000, which covered all the fraudulent fees, as well as the legitimate charges associated with these trips.
Graeme Samuel, the former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and an ex-chairman of Victoria’s taxi commission, said he was reluctant to catch a taxi.
“Not unless I was absolutely in a desperate need, and it’s happened once in Sydney, but it costs me a lot of money as a result,” he said. “But no, I wouldn’t do it, frankly.”
Samuel said successive governments had failed to regulate the industry for many decades.
“Consumers are being ripped off,” he said.
“You can’t regulate an industry where there are so many thousands of participants in terms of drivers, individual licence holders, and B corporates who basically are at a position where they say, if I can get away with rorting the system, why don’t I do it?”
Former ACCC chief Graeme Samuel says the public is being ripped of as regulators have failed to act.Credit: 60 Minutes
An A2B spokeswoman said it categorically rejected the “false and misleading claims made by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, including that the company benefits from fraud”.
She said the company was considering legal action and could not comment further.
Eastern Health, which runs Maroondah Hospital and rehabilitation facility the Peter James Centre, said it had been in contact with A2B and the taxi company was conducting a thorough investigation.
“As such, we cannot make any further comment at this time,” a spokesman said.
NSW Point to Point Transport Commissioner Anthony Wing said he was concerned to hear of the allegations of collusion and serious criminal fraud.
“Serious fraud allegations are a matter for NSW Police, all allegations of criminal fraud should be reported to the appropriate authorities,” he said.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin called on the government to review the allegations to determine how widespread the issue was.
“People should have the safety whether they are using Uber, Didi or an everyday taxi that they hop in the vehicle knowing that they will be safe and not ripped off,” he said.
“If you are stealing from people, whether it is someone in your taxi, or business, you should be held accountable.”
A Victorian government spokesman said passengers who observed or experienced unlawful behaviour in a taxi should take note of the driver’s identification or the vehicle number and report it to Safe Transport Victoria. Customers who have concerns about Cabcharge can contact Consumer Affairs Victoria.
With Hannah Hammoud
For more on this story, watch 60 Minutes on Channel Nine on Sunday at 8.40pm.
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