Rodrigo Mejía works at the corner of the United Nations and Korea avenues. To get to work, he takes a taxi from the Atahualpa roundabout, in the south of Quito. He say the taxi metre says that trip should cost $4,50, but at least two drivers have charged him $8. Estefanía Avilés says that once a driver charged her two times the rate she usually pays to get to work. When she offered him two one dollar coins, he threw them at her neck. 

Many passengers just get rejected at the sidewalk when they talk about pricing with a driver. Quito’s director of transportation justice Guillermo Abad, says the service provided by commercial drivers (including taxis, pick-up trucks and buses) is not consistent with the requirements of the law to provide accessible, universal, comfortable and efficient transportation.

There are 8,000 registered yellow taxis in Quito. These cabs go through quality control. But there are thousands more illegal taxis.

The national Law of Transit establishes that municipal officers along with national transit agents should be enforcing regulations about fares and service in the city. In Quito, taxi metres get check every two years to make sure they haven’t been tampered with, and local authorities investigate complaints and can confiscate taxi licenses.

But the metropolitan transit director says not many people actually make official complaints, so there’s not much they can do. To register a complaint with the relevant body, call the 1800 Movilidad hotline.

Original story