Officials: 633 NYC cabbies routinely overcharge

[May 15, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City commission says 633 taxi drivers have been routinely overcharging riders, and those drivers could lose their licenses.

The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission made the determination after a monthslong investigation. The agency referred its findings to the city's Department of Investigation and the Manhattan district attorney's office.

The New York Times reported the findings released Friday. Among them, 88 drivers had each overcharged passengers at least 500 times, and 545 more drivers had overcharged passengers 50 to 499 times. The commission said 21,819 drivers charged the higher rates 286,000 times, which cost passengers about $1.1 million. Some drivers could have set the meters to the higher rates by mistake. The city has nearly 50,000 drivers who operate medallion cabs.

[Associated Press]

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