A New South Wales taxi driver has been fined $12,000 and banned from operating after charging fixed fares in excess of state regulations and kicking out his passengers and their luggage if they refused.
Nurman Syarif was convicted in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court last week of several offences relating to his interactions with passengers.
He was prosecuted by the state’s point-to-point transport commission, a recently created oversight body for the taxi, hire vehicle and rideshare service industries.
In a statement, the regulator said Syarif had demanded fixed fares – rather than those determined by the meter – from his passengers that were “significantly in excess” of state regulations.
When passengers refused and insisted Syarif use the meter, he ejected them and their luggage, putting their safety at risk, the commissioner said.
The commissioner said Syarif also acted in an “abusive manner” towards his passengers and that the “significant penalty and ban” from operating taxis or rideshare vehicles highlighted the “seriousness” of his behaviour.
On 20 March, magistrate Jacqueline Milledge found Syarif guilty of four offences including behaving in an offensive manner and two counts of demanding fares contravening arrangements approved by the state’s fares order.
The taxi regulator said another driver was fined $3,300 and convicted by a court after attempting to appeal against a fine he was issued by undercover officers for overcharging by adding additional fees to the meter at the end of the trip.
The point-to-point transport commissioner, Anthony Wing, said he was pleased with the outcome of both court matters.
“In an industry where the majority of taxi drivers do the right thing, rogue drivers such as these, who repeatedly offend and break the law, have no place in the industry,” he said. “If drivers do the wrong thing, it is clear they risk a hefty fine or being kicked out of the industry altogether.”
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Wing said that over the past two years, authorised officers had issued more than 1,000 fines to “rogue drivers” for fare-related offences such as refusing to use the meter or overcharging.
New disqualifying offences introduced late last year by the NSW government mean taxi drivers who are convicted by the court on two separate occasions for fare-related offences will be banned from the industry, Wing said.
But, as Guardian Australia reported in December, the industry has been grappling with a national problem of rogue drivers, some of whom are slipping through the patchwork of laws that exist across the different states.
At the time, the company 13Cabs – with more than 8,000 cars nationally across its brands including Silver Service – echoed concerns from the Victorian Taxi Association calling out the state’s laws as enabling the most rampant rise in illegal overcharging.
NSW increased its infringement for overcharging or meter refusal from $300 to $1,000 last year but has still discovered repeat offenders.