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New York cabbies accused in meter scam
NEW YORK, Mar 13, 2010 (UPI via COMTEX) --
Criminal charges are expected against some of the nearly 36,000 New York cab drivers who allegedly overcharged passengers $8.3 million, officials said.
The extra income came during a 26-month period reviewed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission using new electronic trip data from GPS technology, The New York Daily News reported Saturday.
About 35,550 drivers overcharged passengers at least once, while another 3,000 drivers were repeat offenders, switching their meters to a higher out-of-city rate more than 100 times each, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The worst offenders face criminal charges, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday.
City officials said they were working on an alert that would appear on a cab's backseat monitor when a driver activated the higher out-of-city rate.
The Taxi Workers Alliance questioned the enormity of the alleged scam.
"This is a workforce that's known for returning diamonds and tens of thousands of dollars passengers leave behind," Alliance spokesman Bhairavi Desai said. "To be told the same workforce is ripping off passengers for four dollars and change each ride just doesn't match."
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