By Kieran Rooney, Brittany Busch and Nick McKenzie
Taxi and ride-share drivers who break the rules more than once will have their licences suspended or cancelled under a two-strikes policy to be legislated by the Allan government alongside other reforms to protect passenger safety.
Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams will on Friday announce new laws to crack down on dodgy drivers, building on regulations in 2023 that banned unfair price negotiations.
The company behind 13cabs and Cabcharge is accused by its own staff of ignoring rampant fraud.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
Since then, alarming practices have continued across the industry, and in February The Age’s investigation revealed some of the nation’s biggest cab companies had ignored systematic defrauding of customers for years.
Premier Jacinta Allan pledged to do more to clean up the “absolutely vile” behaviour revealed by The Age, including that of driver Jarnail Singh, who abused and scammed passengers with disabilities but was only caught when he was busted drink-driving.
The first of the government’s reforms will be the introduction of mandatory QR codes in taxis and ride-share vehicles that will link to websites informing passengers about their rights and how to make a complaint.
Later this year, the Allan government plans to legislate a “two-strikes, and you’re out rule” for drivers with multiple complaints against them.
Drivers with more than one fare-related conviction recorded would have their accreditation suspended or cancelled by regulator Safe Transport Victoria.
Other reforms include updated camera rules to address concerns of driver behaviour towards passengers with disabilities.
Singh was repeatedly recorded on camera hitting, shoving and ripping off his non-verbal passengers in wheelchairs, but his crimes were never flagged by his contractor 13cabs.
Carers will be able to access live in-vehicle vision, if offered by the company providing the trip, and stricter training requirements will be introduced for drivers of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
Cameras in rank or hailed taxis will also be forced to record audio, in addition to vision, providing regulators and companies with better information to investigate complaints.
Disabled Australians who have been repeatedly discriminated against have long called for harsher penalties for drivers who refuse service to disabled passengers.
“These reforms will deliver significant improvements for the taxi and ride-share industry by strengthening compliance and enforcement, while giving passengers more ways to report illegal behaviour,” Williams said.
“While most drivers are doing the right thing, these changes are about making trips safer and more reliable for Victorians.”
Victoria’s taxi industry has for years also been dogged by issues such as touting at airports and taxi drivers who would refuse trips unless they received inordinate upfront payments.
The Allan government sought to end the practice, which became rife at major events, in 2023 by amending regulations so that drivers can no longer negotiate prices with customers above the regulated maximum fare. The changes also required the use of meters when cabs were hailed or picked up at a rank.
However, authorities have struggled to rein in bad behaviour.
Leaked documents in February revealed Australia’s biggest taxi company, A2B, had received explicit warnings that failing internal controls had enabled “eye-watering fraud” for years.
The Taxileaks files – published by The Age and 60 Minutes – detail brazen criminality by drivers uncovered by A2B across its taxi industry empire, including the defrauding of dead people’s accounts and even of police officers.
The Age also exposed the case of taxi driver Jarnail Singh, who defrauded and repeatedly assaulted his profoundly disabled passengers, pleading guilty to 499 crimes.
Following The Age’s revelations, Allan said the accreditation process for taxi drivers had already been strengthened, “but it’s clear that there is more to do”.
“Can I make it absolutely clear – and I served as public transport minister some time ago – the behaviour as has been reported over the weekend is just absolutely vile. It is disgusting,” she said at the time.
The Victorian government is also reviewing the use of Cabcharge products at taxpayer-funded organisations, which were at the centre of multiple allegations of widespread rorting.
Other Cabcharge clients targeted by corrupt drivers include major healthcare and aged care providers such as Villa Maria Catholic Homes and Maroondah Hospital.
A2B sources not authorised to speak publicly told The Age vulnerable groups such as hospital patients and the elderly were likely seen as easy targets who would not know they had been overcharged.
In the wake of the investigation, Monash Health said it was considering stopping the use of Cabcharge and its hospitals after it detected multiple fraudulent fares meant for vulnerable patients.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.