Khaleej Times

DUBAI, July 7:  — Make sure that you count your change well before you step out of a taxi the next time! Recently, taxi drivers have been accused of short-changing passengers and handing over ‘foreign’ currency instead of dirhams.

Following a hotline complaint received and investigated by Khaleej Times, it was found out that several taxi drivers were cheating customers by mixing foreign coins of smaller denominations with dirhams before handing over the change to unsuspecting passengers.

Said Vijay D while warning fellow passengers, "I have been cheated by Dubai taxi drivers twice recently. I had handed over a note to the drivers and was waiting for a change. When I was handed the change, the driver seemed in a hurry to leave. He pushed the coins in my hand and sped away." Vijay said that when he got a chance to take a good look at the coins, he found out that he had been cheated because two of the three coins he received were Indian rupees. "Surely, if the driver could do this to me, he must similarly have fooled and cheated others as well," added Vijay.

Talking about a similar incident, Francis Malcom said, "Recently, I had handed over a high denomination note to a taxi driver and while waiting for the change, I alighted from the vehicle."

"When he handed back the change to me and fled away, I discovered that he had cheated me out of Dh20," explained Francis.

Ammar bin Tamim, Director of the Dubai Taxi Department, RTA, said, "This is blatant cheating. If we trace the taxi drivers who did this, they will be fired immediately."

Tamim also suggested that passengers should immediately lodge complaints of such incidents on the DTC hotline so that prompt action can be taken against errant drivers.