Taxi drivers face fines for breaking rules

ISTANBUL

Amid complaints of citizens against taxi drivers favoring tourists over them, refusing short-distance rides, or misbehaving, Istanbul police have suspended several taxi drivers from traffic for 10 days with heavy fines due to non-compliance with regulations during an inspection in Eminönü district.

Civilian traffic teams of the Traffic Supervision Branch Directorate carried out inspections of taxi drivers in Eminönü, as undercover traffic police officers boarded taxis pretending to be customers and identified drivers who did not follow the rules, did not open the taximeters and favored passengers depending on their destination and nationality.

The teams stopped the taxis arriving at the checkpoint and imposed administrative fines on drivers who did not comply with the rules in line with the information provided.

During the inspection, two taxi drivers who refused to let undercover police officers into their vehicles were fined a total of 8,128 liras and their vehicles were banned from traffic for 10 days.

A taxi driver who stopped near an undercover police was heard saying, “There is a police officer ahead, I can't take you anywhere,” according to local media.

It was reported that the said taxi driver objected to the fine and tore the ticket by cursing.

Another driver, fined and banned from traffic, reacted to press members nearby.

A local who was waiting for a car at the checkpoint but could not find a taxi stated that he and his son had been waiting for an hour and a half for a taxi to pick them up, even when he called for a taxi from a smartphone application, saying that drivers ignore requests and especially favor Arab tourists.