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Taxis are a hot topic in Cancun, both among locals and the tourists who are forced to use their services while vacationing in the popular vacation destination, because there is a lot of controversy surrounding them. And now, in an attempt to solve at least one of the problems, officials are asking tourists to report Cancun taxi drivers that overcharge. This is a common complaint from those that use taxi services in Cancun, and the only real way to solve the problem is to determine who is not abiding by the rules.
To be sure, there are regulations that taxi drivers are supposed to follow and rules put in place to protect tourists from being overcharged. The problem is many tourists are unsure about what they are supposed to be charged or fearful about what will happen if they do say something. But while it won’t change the immediate situation, reporting an incident of being overcharged will help officials crack down on drivers who do break the rules.
Just a couple of months ago, as many as 60 drivers were sanctioned over a month-long period for overcharging customers. Around that time, two customers were even insulted by a taxi driver when they questioned the fare and asked to see the meter. In this case, the incident was reported, but in most cases, it is not, either due to fear or lack of knowledge regarding the reporting options.
In a more recent case of bad behavior from taxi drivers in Cancun, a reporter was threatened by a driver after questioning the rate. In this incident, the driver was trying to charge about 75 percent more than the allowed rate. When the reporter pointed this out, the driver commented, “God take care of me because his job is very dangerous.”
Journalism is a dangerous job in Cancun and in Mexico in general. In the last 22 years, more than 150 journalists have been murdered, 16 of which occurred in 2022 alone. It’s no wonder that the journalist in this situation felt threatened following the driver’s comment, stating that “Here the man has just told me that my job as a reporter is the most dangerous in the world, to be careful, so he is threatening me because I told him that the minimum rate is 38, the man wanted to charge me 50 pesos.”
The reporter, in this case, was knowledgeable about what the rate should be, but often tourists are not aware of the rates. Fortunately, the reporter also knew how to report the incident to authorities. According to the taxi driver’s union, the incident will be investigated and the driver sanctioned if found to have, in fact, overcharged the customer.
There are union phones that are attended to 24 hours a day that deal with reports of taxi drivers overcharging customers. Authorities urge victims of taxi fraud to report every incident that occurs so that those drivers that commit fraud can be sanctioned if necessary. The numbers to call to make a report are:
- 998-689-1166
- 998-888-6990
- 998-293-6267
- 998-221-8064
Visitors to Cancun should familiarize themselves with the taxi rates that are typically charged for common pick-up and drop-off locations for tourists, such as the route between the Cancun Hotel Zone and Cancun International Airport, which is approximately $30 one way. Ubers are another option that Cancun tourists have, but there is some serious animosity between Uber and taxi drivers that visitors may want to stay clear of. For those using a taxi to get to the Hotel Zone from the airport, it also helps to book a ride in advance to avoid a situation that can turn ugly, but if it does, it should definitely be reported to authorities.
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