Veteran driver petitions for taxi drivers’ right to request a fare deposit

Syed Hassan Abbas has been driving a taxi in Saskatoon for more than 20 years and during that time, he’s seen it all.

He’s had a knife pulled on him. He’s been threatened. He’s had to deal with intoxicated and belligerent customers. And he’s also had a lot of fares refuse to pay their bills.

“Since 2001, I think I’ve lost between $9,000 and $10,000,” he revealed.

It’s a tough job, he said, driving a taxi 12 hours a day.

In October 2021, Abbas wrote a letter to Saskatoon city council and presented a petition from drivers. They’re requesting help from the city to try and mitigate fraudulent fares by requesting a deposit from them at the beginning of the ride, rather than trying to collect it all at the end of the trip.

The letter was received by Licensing and Permitting manager Mark Wilson.

In his response, Wilson noted the “Vehicles for Hire Bylaw” did not outline a framework for a deposit to be charged, adding a bylaw amendment or a pilot program would need to be adopted by city council first.

Wilson also noted he and parking services manager Wayne Sum “have heard concerns from individual drivers about unpaid taxi fares since we have been in our respective roles, and were disappointed to hear that it’s the consensus of the group that this is increasing.”

He added: “The issue would require further research, but it’s likely that requiring a deposit is the only means to significantly curb this issue.”

On Dec. 14, Abbas once again wrote to the City of Saskatoon, reiterating his request that the city consider allowing drivers to charge a deposit from fares.

He likened his request to gas stations that require pre-payment before pumping.

“In the taxi business, we don’t have this. We are not paid in many cases,” said Abbas, adding that requesting a deposit could get a cab driver suspended if there’s a complaint about it.

Abbas said he’s not yet received any response from the city and many drivers are in a constant state of stress. And calling police isn’t an effective way to deal with the situation, because it happens so often.

Unless there’s a health or security issue, Abbas explained a cab driver can’t refuse a fare, even if they recognize the same person has not paid their fare previously. That was confirmed by Matt Grazier, the City of Saskatoon’s director of community standards.

“You have to give the ride to the person …,” said Abbas. ” This is not a big city. We have repeated customers and we know who scams us. We know the houses, we know apartments (and) the addresses.”

Grazier said the subject of taxi drivers charging a deposit has been on the radar since October of 2021 and it’s something that may be considered in the future, if a proposal is received to that effect.

“We did advise the industry to come back with a proposal on how a deposit system may work for the taxi industry. We did last meet with them in December 2022, but to date have not had any detailed proposal from the taxi industry on that. But upon receipt of such a proposal, (we) would conduct a thorough review,” he said.

The next step would then be to take a report forward to Saskatoon city council for consideration. Grazier said the city has been meeting with the United Steel Workers Union, which represents cab drivers in Saskatoon, along with a group of drivers.

Grazier also said the city was looking for feedback on a variety of questions.

“Is this something that needs to be in place for all trips throughout the day or is it just something where the fares tend to happen at a certain point in the evening? What type of amounts are we looking at? … Is this just for metered taxi trips or is it for contracted taxi trips as well?” he asked.

According to information from the Government of B.C., the Taxi Bill of Rights  allows a cab driver to ask for a deposit, up to a reasonable estimate of the fare. The same general rules also apply to Calgary’s Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights, where a driver can require up to a $30 deposit towards the total cost of the fare , and in Edmonton.

Abbas hoped the matter would be taken to council in the near future.

“If I go to the counter of Air Canada and WestJet and say, ‘I have $900, I can show you. But I will pay you once I’m in Toronto,’ will they allow me to do that? No,” he said.