Tourists beware
Moreover, taxi drivers often jack up the rates or unnecessarily take their passengers on a scenic route through the city, driving the price through the roof. Travel guides warn the Amsterdam tourist not only of pickpockets, but also of local taxis. A hotel employee working in the city centre hears guests complain of the taxis on a daily basis, and calls the rates ‘ludicrous’.

“There are many aggressive taxi drivers and far too much is paid nine out of ten times. A drive from the airport into town for 100 euros is not exceptional.”

Everyone’s a taxi driver
The cause of the taxi turmoil can be found in the liberalisation of the taxi service industry almost ten years ago. Fewer laws were meant to be solution to bad service and rates that were too high – even back then. From that moment, anyone could become a taxi driver and the customer was meant to benefit from it. It was also meant to be the fatal blow for the taxi monopolies and the ‘criminal’ nature of the Amsterdam taxi business.

The opposite was true. The conclusion is that the situation has only worsened. Short drives are turned down because they aren’t profitable enough. And now, even more tourists are victims of swindling taxi drivers. The established cab companies point the finger at the so-called ‘independent cabbies’ that are not employed by a company and therefore cannot be reprimanded for unacceptable behaviour.

Richard van der Veen, director of Amsterdam taxi exchange TCA, says, “The drivers who are registered with the central taxi exchange must abide by a code of behaviour and if they break it they face suspension or being fired. That doesn’t happen in the case of ‘independent cabbies’ who are not bound by any rules or regulations.”

Tips
Now that a death has occurred as the result of a row between a cabbie and a customer, the government is calling for stricter sanctions such as the revoking of permits. An Amsterdam taxi driver, who has just dropped off a tourist at his hotel, thinks it is a good initiative. But until those sanctions are in place, he advises tourists who want to protect themselves against unscrupulous practices to ask what the charge will be in advance.

“Ask what the charge is before you get in the cab and never go with a taxi driver who walks around train station entrances and airport arrival halls recruiting customers.”

A taxi rank is a safer place to get a cab, he says, but never a guarantee that the meter won’t be tampered with. Hotel owners advise their guests to order a taxi through the hotel. Or they can always just take the tram.