Some drivers of Karwa taxis are allegedly cheating passengers by manipulating the fares, victims have complained.

An increase in the number of complaints against Karwa taxi and bus drivers recently prompted a senior official of Mowasalat to call on the public to be more vigilant about such drivers.

The official even advised passengers not to pay the taxi fare if the driver fails to put on the meter during the trip.

Complaints about drivers who don't operate the meter and refuse to issue the ticket have been very common. However, there are also drivers who try to tamper with the meters, some residents alleged.

A 33-year old professional went through this ordeal. On Friday afternoon, he hailed a Karwa taxi from the City Center premises and traveled to the Airport area. He was issued a ticket of QR24.50 at the end of the trip.

The driver, however, took only QR17 from him, after he entered into an argument about the fare.

"I am a regular passenger in this route. Normally I pay QR17 or QR18 for the same distance. I got suspicious from the very beginning, as the meter was partly covered with a black tape. However, I could see the meter running very fast, soon after the cab took to the road," said the victim who did not wished to be named in the paper.

The man said he was surprised when the driver told him he had to pay QR24.50 at the end of the journey. "I was sure there was something wrong with the meter. It was afternoon and there was no much rush on the roads. The taxi took only 14 minutes to reach the destination, as clearly shown in the ticket," he added.

When he questioned the driver, the latter got scared. He excused saying that the meter was not working properly. He also agreed to take only QR17, as insisted by the passenger.

"He was still reluctant to issue the ticket. Finally he gave me the ticket, which shows the fare as QR24.50. If I didn't argue with him, I would have ended up paying him more than the due fare."

"If the meter was damaged or faulty, he could have told me before embarking on the journey. I believe he was trying to tamper with the meter," he added.

There are a number of Karwa drivers who work with the company on contract basis.

They are supposed to pay a certain amount to the company from their daily earnings and the rest will go their own pockets. The bigger amounts they earn, the bigger they gain.

What the professional has cited is not perhaps the first or the only incident of its kind in Doha. In a posting on Qatarliving.com yesterday, a resident, who claimed to be very new to Doha wrote, "What is the general fare for taxi…. I went to City Center mall today from stadium. It took QR60… Is it so costly?"

Source: The Peninsula, Qatar