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Taxi drivers not accepting card payment

  • 19-09-2021 8:52am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭


    With the country reopening its great to see so many taxis on the road again.

    Over the last few weeks like others, I have been out and about around Dublin with a few trips abroad in between.

    One thing I have noticed is that Irish taxi drivers don’t accept card payment - why is this the case? I am from the UK and it is compulsory that taxi drivers have card payment as an option.

    its 2021 and I’m rather amazed at how this is not the case in Ireland. Why is that?

    Post edited by Beasty on


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,099 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    Taxis don't like paying income tax so most only declare the bare minimum like 16k.

    Rest then is cash in hand and tax free therefore cash is king. Taxi lobby will make sure they can hold unto this as long as possible.

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,839 ✭✭✭✭callaway92


    If you use MyTaxi you can pay by card



  • Subscribers Posts: 41,831 ✭✭✭✭sydthebeat


    "screw the system" is par for the course in most things in Ireland



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,915 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    Some will, but the surcharges can be eye watering. I paid €5 on a €16 fare for the privilege of paying by card a few weeks ago. No mention of it at the time and it wasn't on the card terminal so I didn't realise the next day til I saw the second transaction on my card. Was raging, I would have 100% stopped to grab cash if I'd known I was going to be hit with that level of a fee.

    SumUp was the payment handler.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,181 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    Surely if it wasn't displayed on the terminal, charging an extra €5 would be sharp practice at best and theft at worst?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,458 ✭✭✭corcaigh07


    That's robbery by the taxi driver, not Sumup.

    The taxi driver was probably charged 27c (1.69%) for that transaction (ignoring any income tax).



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It's nothing to do with tax as the fares are all on the meter.

    There were very high bank fees here in the past to accept cards, but the market has changed a lot due to modern fintech, but you'll still find hold outs and the two I encounter are taxies and doctors.



  • Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭Relax brah


    I’ve tried to use MyTaxi and Uber but not possible from airport and/or city centre.

    e.g. Lastnight I was leaving city centre, ordered Uber and then driver cancelled. You have to flag in Dublin CC



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,992 ✭✭✭Mongfinder General


    This. And it’s not just taxi drivers. A couple of months after the first lockdown hit, Revenue realised that the income tax take had fallen slightly but not by the predicted amounts. It appears that many who are self employed weren’t paying to begin with. If a digital euro comes in, it will be a lot harder to evade tax.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I gave up on the taxi apps after a few bad experiences in both Dublin and Cork. Pre-bookings letting me down and on two occasions just weird incidents. I only ever call the base now or flag them down.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,817 ✭✭✭Darc19


    Can you show me where the UK legislation is that says it is compulsory for taxis to take card payments?

    The black cabs in London have to and maybe a few other cities, but I can assure you that there is no blanket regulations that says taxis must accept card payment in the UK.

    And from very recent experience, it certainly does not apply in Leeds or Leicester.

    But in order to do business, most taxi drivers here and in the UK accept card payments.



  • Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭Relax brah


    This would make sense.

    On Monday night, I got a cab home from dublin airport. The driver told me he accepted card payment via SumUp but then told me it wasn’t working and requested payment via revolut.

    It was late and there were no ATM’s nearby. I think this is just amazing how it is allowed happen, the challenge me was that I was on a business trip and I cannot expense revolut.

    Ireland seems to be relatively progressive with a lot of big tech firms in the city, how is the case with taxis I cannot understand - especially if it is blatant fraud



  • Posts: 3,689 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    First World problem OP.

    Your Problem not taxi drivers.

    I've been in taxis with card machines that are dity and smelly. I've been in limo quality taxis with no card machine.

    ...



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I've found you can't assume cards are accepted in Europe in taxies in general tbh.

    Ireland's not the only place that's inconsistent on this. I've encountered it in plenty of places and it's also often this incredulous and grumpy reaction when you offer a card or discover you've only got €50 note, because that's what ATMs issue



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,915 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    In that case it seems mental that the driver has the ability to take secondary payments in that way. As I said, it wasn't added to the fare, it was an entirely separate transaction I had absolutely no part in.



  • Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭Relax brah


    Not really.

    if taxis want to accommodate business travellers than they should accept card payment.

    i suppose it’s my problem if I take a dump in a jacks and complain that their is no jacks roll too?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,380 ✭✭✭Deub


    It is not a new thing and Irish taxis are not the inly ones doing it.

    what could be the solutions to stop this? Mystery shoppers?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,458 ✭✭✭corcaigh07


    If you feel strongly enough about the separate transaction, sounds like you have a good case for a chargeback.



  • Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭Relax brah


    Retailers have had to adapt, as have restaurants and every other industry - transportation has equally adapted. Especially now given the advancements in technology, transportation specifically.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭85603


    keep some cash on you.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,478 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    They don't want to pay tax so wont accept cards. It's weird how they're pretty much the only legit businesses that are allowed avoid paying tax, Revenue are usually pretty on the ball with things but they've let the taxi lot away with this forever. I remember being in Germany in 2006 and you could pay taxis with cards.



  • Registered Users Posts: 803 ✭✭✭Relax brah


    It’s 2021, I haven’t carried a wallet for years.

    Taxi drivers in ireland need to wake up. I understand that they complain about FreeNow and Uber etc

    Its becuase that’s what customers want, easy to access taxis with the flexibility to pay via card or appleypay/googlepay etc - every other country in the world is the same.

    Its important that taxi regulators and drivers for that matter, start listening to customers/consumers as they are the ones who drive trends and dedicate how the market does business. If a taxi driver wants to illegally under declare tax than don’t make the consumers life’s difficult in doing so - that in itself is already wrong in reality too.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,761 ✭✭✭beachhead


    This is a 1st world problem.So,chillax take it easy,breath out,count to 10,do it again.In the meantime try to experience the wonder of holding cash in your hands.Lots of people on this planet never will have that privilege/right



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,224 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Once he has your card details he just submits for payment via the processor. You can of course challenge it and/or report him for theft and it is those things that would prevent the average merchant from trying to rip you off. For a credit card, if the banks do a chargeback, it is the merchant who loses. So if someone steals your card, uses it to buy a TV, and you end up doing a chargeback, the merchant has no money and no TV. The bank don't lose. You don't lose. The thief gets a free TV but the only one interested in chasing them up is obviously the merchant.

    I would likely challenge it on the principle of the matter if it was as you describe; even though it would be a somewhat pyrrhic victory as the effort for me to do so wouldn't be worth the fiver. You'd need to call up the Bank and then probably sign and fill out a form and send it to them. And then they might give you back your fiver.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,532 ✭✭✭HBC08


    Not sure what you mean,I'm not a taxi man but I use Sumup to take payments from customers,it charges me 1.67%,so on a €15 taxi fare that would be approximately 20 cents.Also in most cases that cost is absorbed by the person taking the payment.

    Again I'm not sure what happened and don't really understand the post but my guess is your issue is with the taxi man and not the payment terminal provider.



  • Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    Just use the app's.

    The reason why is a combination of everything about, mostly because a credit card transaction can be followed by revenue. Also the companies charge for every credit card transaction so a taxi driver doesn't want to know

    This headache is taken away with the apps as they run the credit card machines etc



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    There is a meter which records all fares. I presume Revenue audit taxi drivers occasionally and can check those records. Widespread tax evasion by taxi drivers doesn’t sound that plausible.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    There is a massive " cash" economy out there, builders etc. Taxis certainly aren't the only ones. Boils my piss tbh



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,224 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Taxi drivers do not usually wear slim fit Hugo Boss suits and therefore are in need of excessive coinage to use as ballast for their pockets. That is why they don't like accepting cards.



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Accepting payment only in cash for tax evasion purposes would only work if there is no other record of the transaction, but in the case of taxis there is: the meter.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,915 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    Not sure what's confusing about my post, tbh. I paid a c.€15 taxi fare on my card (contactless). When I checked my online banking the next day, there was a second SumUp transaction for €5 a minute or two after the first one.

    Maybe the driver did pull a fast one but if he did it's because SumUp somehow allowed him to complete a second transaction on my card without me present.



  • Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    If you pull a taxi from the kerb and just get a short trip in cash no chance in hell are they putting this onto the system unless you ask for a receipt. I have to for work and the face I get when asked for a receipt. I have been offered cards, pieces of paper and all sorts loads of times, one guy scribbled on a bit of paper he found in the centre pocket and said he had no receipt paper :-) Hence why I use the app and receipt is direct to email



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,458 ✭✭✭corcaigh07


    Sumup are not at fault for that, it's very likely the taxi driver just pulled a fast one because he wanted the cash originally.

    It's very likely the 5 euro transaction was MOTO/Card not present which nearly any card terminal can do. There is no security for these transactions, you'll win the chargeback if you raise it, even if it's just for 5 euro.

    The merchant (taxi) will also likely to incur a chargeback handling fee.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Actually I suppose with agreed fares they could go the cash in hand route. I’d always want the meter on a short trip. I’ve only ever got into an agreed fare for long journeys. Afaik you’re entitled to calculate any journey on the meter.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,532 ✭✭✭HBC08


    You said " the surcharges are eye watering" in relation to paying by card,in this case in relation to Sumup,that confused me as I use SumUp everyday and that makes no sense.

    I think it's been explained to you now by a few posters that is not the case.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,915 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    I said the surcharges "can" be eye-watering. And the fact is that I *was* hit with a fairly hefty eye-watering one. Whether it was levied by the driver or SumUp doesn't really make any material difference, it happened to me and could easily happen to someone else, so why not flag it as something to be aware of in the context of the thread? If it causes someone to ask their driver in advance what the story is and avoid the same thing happening, then happy days, as far as I'm concerned.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    I have Free Now driver app, unless you've ordered the taxi via the app I will decline payment viz Free Now's app because they charge 15% commission. I can however take it via Sum Up and take a 2% hit instead.

    However, anecdotaly I prefer cash customers because they tip more often, even if it's only the 20c change from a €9.80 fare



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    I exclusively use SumUp and I've never been able to do it, what did Sum Up say when you queried it?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,532 ✭✭✭HBC08


    From what you've said here you were ripped off for a fiver by a dodgy taxi man,that seems to be the long and the short of it.

    Talk of eye watering surcharges is nothing to do with it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,594 ✭✭✭MrMusician18


    Never got the "no paper in the meter" excuse then I take it.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭85603


    Well then youre going to run into random problems like this.

    Carry some cash future boy.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    If the fare was calculated on the meter it wouldn’t matter whether there was paper in it or not. The paper is just for issuing receipts to passengers. If revenue audits the driver, they’ll be looking for data from the meter, not receipts from passengers

    (I’m working on the assumption that the data from meters is actually recorded somewhere, I don’t actually know! But either way if they use the meter to calculate the fare, it doesn’t seem to me like it matters whether they issued a receipt or not. The receipt is for the customer’s records, not driver’s).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,594 ✭✭✭MrMusician18


    Perhaps a taxi driver can tell us but I don't think the journey is recorded in the meter if the fare is cancelled rather than ended. The journey has to be ended for a receipt to be printed.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    Not having paper in the printer doesn't overcome it being recorded in the NVRam of the meter, the only way to not have it recorded is if the customer agrees to the job off the meter.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    You can't cancel a fare once the meter is engaged, you can only complete it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,594 ✭✭✭MrMusician18


    Some meters only store the last 250 jobs though.

    If it were impossible to cheat, then cash and hand written receipts wouldn't be a thing



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,467 ✭✭✭pgj2015


    Funnily enough, mcgregors dad used to work as a taxi driver.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    Not true, the meter records everything from when it's initially installed, including things like total vehicle mileage, mileage with meter engaged, mileage without meter engaged, number of trips, total time of trips etc.

    The taxman tends to accept what people put down on their form 11 and accounts extracts rather than request meter printouts though, unless they are auditing you I assume



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,277 ✭✭✭poisonated


    Conor mcgregor....classy lad! On a more relevant note, I try to use free now as much as I can as if you lose something(which I often do), there is w greater possibility of getting it back. I’ve usually had good experience with free niw There was one issue whereby I got in a taxi and he immediately ran into a cyclist 2 seconds after picking me up and his mirror was broken so he wouldn’t bring me to where I wanted to go, he then charged me for the 2 second journey including g the 2 euro pick up charge. I also had an uber driver make it look like I was in the car and drove the journey without me in the car and I was charged something like 30 quid. I try not to use uber anymore. Unfortunately you do get the occasional scumbag taxi driver, most are great though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,544 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    That's strange, considering that even restaurants and bars are difficult to pay by card in Germany. They are notorious for being cash only in a lot of places. When I was in Hamburg last it was an absolute pain in the hole TBH.



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