Photo by andertho.

The September 1 deadline for all D.C. taxicabs to have credit card systems installed is rapidly approaching, and it looks like most of them won’t meet it.

According to WAMU, “over 4,000 of D.C.’s 6,500 taxicabs have applied for a 30-day extension on the requirement that they accept credit cards” by September 1. Drivers had to prove that they’ve signed up with a payment service provider (PSPs)—the companies that install credit card payment machines in the cabs— to get the extension. Some drivers have complained that there wasn’t enough time to even do that, but Ron Linton, chairman of the commission, was unmoved by their plea.

The deadline for submitting an application for another 30-day extension was at midnight last night:

According to Neville Waters, spokesman for the D.C. Taxicab Commission, PSPs filed requests for extensions on behalf of 4,200 drivers. Waters said that 2,500 drivers would be able to accept credit cards by the end of August, while the remaining taxicabs would have until the end of September to come into compliance.

This marks the umpteenth delay since mid-2012 in the much-needed push for District taxicabs to be required to accept credit cards as a form of payment.