Sir, – I recently took a taxi using the Free Now app and was surprised when the charge turned out to be more than that on the taxi meter. I checked and saw that a €1 charge had been added as a “technology fee”. I raised the issue with the National Transport Authority, the regulator.
It replied that a booking service provider can charge a technology fee; in other words, it accepted the practice.
This so-called “technology” is merely an app. Presumably, in the same vein, a taxi driver could choose to add a technology fee if an electric car is used. Free Now already gets a percentage from the taxi driver.
This “fee” seems to me to be a way to cream off more from the taxi user.
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In my view, the regulated cost of a taxi is already too high, and these operators should not be allowed to add extra charges at will.
The regulator should have the public interest in mind and forbid this practice. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL BARRY,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.