The waiting time for taxis may have come down significantly over the past year, but complaints keep pouring in about cabbies overcharging passengers and refusing to do short trips.

Residents feel that many of these taxi drivers are as big a ‘menace’ as the parallel operators, but are clueless about how to deal with the problem.

Recently, when two newcomers to Doha reportedly approached the drivers of three taxis waiting near Safari Mall in Abu Hamour, they were told by all the cabbies that they would have to pay double the usual fare to go to their destination about 7km away.

“Each of them had no qualms in telling us that running on meter was not practical,” said one of the affected passengers. “Ultimately, we boarded one of the taxis and it ran on meter. However, while the meter reading showed QR16.75 on reaching our accommodation, he (the cabbie) did not reduce even a single riyal from the QR30 that he had asked for initially.”

The parallel operators, who were found in abundance in the locality, also agreed to ferry the two to their accommodation for the same amount.

Going by the similar experiences of many residents in recent months, it can be said that there are quite a few authorised cabbies in the country who take passengers for a ride and are no different from the parallel operators, say sources.

Interactions with frequent business visitors from neighbouring GCC states reveal that many of them avoid taking taxis here as they feel a large number of the cabbies do not even have proper knowledge of roads in the city. It is common to see such visitors avoiding taxis even at the airport on their arrival and seeking other options, including parallel operators, the sources point out.

When asked why some visitors preferred parallel operators, a regular business visitor from Dubai said they seem to know the roads of Doha much better than most drivers of authorised companies. “I have faced issues with cabbies on more than two occasions. They refuse to take me once they learn that my destination is not too far and they have to make a short trip,” he recalled.

While there many cabbies who follow the rules and never give passengers a chance to complain, there are many ‘repeat offenders’ who tarnish the image of taxi drivers as well as their companies.