Cab drivers refusing to use meters for clients

Some white taxi drivers are demanding excessive upfront fares instead of using their meters, an exercise by The Times has found. The Times asked six taxi drivers in Valletta to be transported to The Strand in Sliema, all of whom insisted on a €20 upfront payment, though one eventually lowered his demand to €15. Drivers of licensed white taxis must always use their meters unless they depart from a taxi booth, where fixed fares apply. They may charge a pre-agreed rate as long as it is less than the price charged by the meter. The only taxi booths in operation are at the airport and Valletta seaport. In one recorded conversation, a taxi driver parked outside the stock exchange tried to justify the €20 fare by showing fixed tariffs from the seaport. “The seaport terminal is just down there,” he said, pointing vaguely towards the sea. Other drivers parked at City Gate and outside the Phoenicia Hotel, Floriana, were recorded insisting that the tariff to Sliema was fixed at €20. “The tariff is €19 plus €1 administration fee,” a driver explained when asked if he would use the meter. A Transport Malta spokesman confirmed the drivers were in the wrong. “Drivers of white taxis hired from...