Crackdown on cowboy cabbies and rideshare drivers only snares nine for overcharging

There are fears ‘bad egg’ cabbies and rideshare drivers could resurface after a key part of a Queensland crackdown failed.

The crackdown only netted 35 taxi or rideshare drivers for charging maximum fares or refusing service.

A crackdown on “cowboy” cabbies and rideshare drivers has resulted in one in five being fined but only 35 being netted for charging maximum fares or refusing service.

A driver behaviour blitz spanning six months from December last year to May 2023 showed 1159 infringement notices were issued and 329 defect notices handed out as part of 6227 intercepts, according to the latest Department of Transport and Main Roads statistics.

However, just nine drivers were prosecuted for charging more than the maximum fare and 26 for refusing services, which was the real focus of the crackdown.

Customers had raised concerns over dodgy cabbies and rideshare drivers ripping them off, particularly at party precincts, after sporting matches and at the Brisbane Airport.

However, the effectiveness of the crackdown has been questioned by the Taxi Council of Queensland which now fears some of the “bad egg” drivers will resurface.

Council chief executive Blair Davies said urged the department to up its efforts and catch the “minority” of drivers breaking the law.

Taxi Council Queensland chief executive Blair Davies said he was concerned that bad egg drivers had not been caught by the department. Picture: Liam Kidston

“The worry is that some drivers heard the warnings and assumed they would be caught so they changed the behaviour. Now we are worried they will regress and it will surface again,” Mr Davies said.

“The behaviour is still occurring in Sydney and Melbourne despite similar crackdowns. We’d encourage the department to get out there with a strong approach to enforce the rules around overcharging and fare refusal.

“For me, success would have looked like a lot of infringement notices than just nine for charging more than the maximum fare.”

Mr Davies said the reputation of the entire taxi and rideshare industry had been tarnished by the few charging “outrageous” prices.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey defended the crackdown and said the officers had been “savage and strong” in targeting “cowboy” drivers, which included late night and early morning weekend operations.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the data clearly showed that taxi and rideshare drivers are aware that they’re on notice. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Mr Bailey said more than 440 drivers were fined for failing to ensure they had correct signage displayed on their vehicle, which is a basic requirement for licensed operators.

“We had a big crackdown on both rideshare and taxi drivers over the festive season because we were getting too many issues of noncompliance or poor customer service, customers being let down,” Mr Bailey said.

“I am very satisfied our compliance officers who worked tirelessly, long, difficult hours, had an effective impact on making sure compliance improved among the drivers.

“I know the compliance measures were strong, and what we have seen is a much greater level of compliance from drivers, because what was going on between the Christmas period was totally unacceptable.”

Mr Bailey said the rate of infringements handed out during intercepts had decreased significantly from about 28 per cent in December to about 6 per cent in May.

However, he said the department would continue its compliance operations to stamp out dodgy drivers towards a goal of zero.