Airport taxi drivers pay illegal levies, extort passengers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Many taxi drivers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport claim they have to pay illegal levies to airport officials, which has forced them to take advantage of the situation and extort passengers.

A taxi driver, Solichin, not his real name, revealed he was required to pay Rp 4,500 to several officials when he parked his taxi cab at the airport last week.

"The amount they charge you varies," he said.

He reasoned that by having to pay the illegal levies, he could also ask the passengers to pay more.

"If we don't charge passengers with higher taxi fares, we will suffer losses as we are forced to pay unofficial levies here," he said.

Another taxi driver Saidi agreed, adding the officials who help taxis queue up often ask them for uang rokok (cigarette money).

"None of us dare to protest the unofficial levies, because it could spell trouble for us," he said. "What is important for us is that we are able to work securely here."

An airport officer in charge of regulating airport taxis turned down the allegations.

"All the fees for taxi drivers are official. There are no unofficial levies," claimed the officer, who refused to mention his name.

He said a driver is required to pay a surcharge of between Rp 9,500 and Rp 11,500, depending on their destination. He added that authorized taxi firms are also required to pay an additional fee, but he refused to mention the amount.

"Passengers are not extorted. All taxi drivers always use their meters. We also monitor them all the time," he claimed.

"If there is any such incident, passengers can lodge their complaint to the airport management or contact us at 5505820 or 5507168," he added.

But many passengers complain about taxi drivers who often charge them more than the fares recorded on the meter.

One of them, Bambang Heriyanto, said that he had to pay Rp 70,000 when he took a taxi cab on Friday night to Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, even though the meter recorded Rp 45,000.

"The driver said that in addition to the official surcharge of Rp 9,500 and toll fee of Rp 7,500, I had to pay for additional fees owing to the fuel price hike," he groaned.

Bambang said he would not file a complaint about the incident with the airport management, saying it would be useless.

"It (the extortion) has become part of the 'corrupt culture' here, which is very difficult to eradicate," said Bambang.

Another passenger, Dino, who travels around the country twice a month, also complained about the extortion.

"It has happened to me many times, especially at night when the airport is quiet," said Dino, 40, an employee of a multinational oil company here.

"The safer and cheaper way is to take a public bus available at the airport," he added.

Those concerned about comfort and are willing to spend more money could order a Silver Bird taxi at its official counter at the airport.