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Commuters seek steps to check rude cabbies

They also say cabbies are resorting to various tactics to make more money and their complaints to the Sharjah Transport Corporation have fallen on deaf ears.

“I take a taxi to travel within the emirate every day, but each day the driver takes a different route to reach my destination. They try to make more money by driving around the emirate and taking the longest route to the destination,” says Maryam Khan. “Because the authorities are not taking any action against them, they are becoming increasingly bolder and behaving obnoxiously.”

“We keep reading in the newspapers that authorities concerned take all kinds of measures required to discipline taxi drivers, but I am yet to meet a taxi driver who’s not rude. They do not even show respect to women passengers,” says Abdullah Hai.

Taxi companies assert that they do take action against such taxi drivers. Says PSM Habibulla, Joint Managing Director of Cars Taxi that operates Citi and Union Taxi in Sharjah, “It is not true that such taxi drivers are not disciplined.”

Habibulla says minor complaints are mostly ignored. “We take serious note of major complaints and treat drivers according to the seriousness of their offence,” he explains.

In some cases, a driver can even get sacked, he adds. “The STC — under which all other taxi companies operate — keeps a quality control check on all companies including ours,” says Habibulla. Complaints against any taxi company can be lodged at the STC hotline, 7000-6-7000.

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