Photo by andertho.
A week after all cab drivers in the city were required to have credit card readers installed in their vehicles, none have been impounded for this violation.
D.C. Taxicab Commission spokesperson Neville Waters said “presumably that’s an indication that the majority of taxis operating have the units and those that have yet to have them installed are staying off the street.” The final progress payment service provider report released before the October 1 deadline said that an estimated 84 percent of cabs has readers installed.
After a round of extensions, the DCTC said that any cab found without a reader would be impounded. A group of cab drivers rallied at Freedom Plaza to protest the deadline, saying there were numerous issues with reader installation. The DCTC agreed to look at their individual complaints, but in the end no extensions were given.
Have you encountered a cab without a reader? Email us at tips@dcist.com.
Update: A reader writes in to say he was in three cabs this weekend: “one had a functioning reader, one had no reader at all and the third had one installed, but wouldn’t let us use it.” He did not report the cabs.
Another readers says three cabs during the past two weeks had installed readers turned off.
When I asked to use them, they said they “weren’t activated yet”, and told me the “new rule” doesn’t go into effect until January 1. When I disagreed, all acted confused and said things like “they change the rules all the time” or “no, you don’t understand because you’re not a driver.”
A third readers says she has taken ten cabs in the past week, but only one allowed her to use a credit card reader, which didn’t work.
I contacted the Taxi Commission on October 1st when the first cab I rode didn’t have a reader. I told the cab driver I was going to do so and he said “go for it, they aren’t enforcing it.” Taxi Commission never contacted me back.
Yesterday I rode in a cab without a card reader and the driver said he had an extension, so too bad for me.
Second update: Waters explains how the cabs are being inspected: “Hack Inspectors make random routine stops for inspections to check for valid Face IDs, insurance certifications, manifest reports and Modern Taximeter Systems. They are not able to catch all drivers; so we are dependent on riders to report those not in compliance. Please advise anyone to forward a report to dctc3@dc.gov or call 855-484-4966 to include a vehicle number and/or driver Face ID.”
