Local taxi stand owners are denying that they are paying their passengers the way the buses do.
That is charging per passenger instead of charging according to the destination as the Commerce Commission has set.
KHJ News has received complaints from several members of the public about this practice.
Some have questioned whether the Commerce Commission has approved a new method of payment for local taxi operators.
The Lagoon Taxi Stand in Nu’uuli said in response to our questions that their drivers charge passengers according to the distance that they travel not by the number of passengers.
However the same taxi stand revealed they will charge extra if the conditions of the road are not good and if the destination is far from the main road.
A taxi operator at Lagoon Taxi stand said people should remember that while the cost of living is rising and prices of everything has gone up, taxi fares haven’t changed much.
He said the last fare increase was in 2012 and it went up by only 50 cents.
A driver at one of the taxi stands at the airport told KHJ News some drivers are known to charge per passenger.
A woman who claims this has happened to her several times said she asked the driver if he was operating a bus instead of a taxi with the way he was charging per passenger.
A taxi operator at another stand asked that members of the public who come across this and other problems with taxis, should note the name of the taxi stand, the license plate number of the vehicle and report them right away so they can be identified.
He was concerned that taxi owners and drivers are getting a bad name because of the actions of a few and he for one would like to stop what’s going on.
The taxi owner said while they are suffering because of the high costs of living and taxi fares have not been increased for some time, they are still trying to cope until the government is ready to grant them their wish.
The taxi stand owner said they have stressed the limit of four passengers per taxi because it’s not worth getting a ticket for overloading just to get an extra $5 fare.
