(NY Post: Chad Rachman)
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Pedicab drivers who rip off their riders with hidden fees and expensive pricing schemes not revealed until the end of the trip are so rampant that the industry needs tougher regulations, a city councilman said yesterday.
“We get many complaints about pedicabs,” said Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee, which monitors the industry.
Many of those complaints come from riders who were overcharged, hit with a price higher than they were initially told, or ended up paying extra because of fees not revealed until the end of the ride, he said.
The Post reported yesterday that one family of four from Texas was charged more than $400 for a ride from 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue to 55th near Sixth Avenue, after allegedly being told that they would pay just $1 a block.
What driver Savas Avci — who is licensed by the Department of Consumer Affairs — allegedly neglected to tell them was that he also charges a $100 per person minimum, which he’d written in tiny letters on the rate card in his cab.
Those rate cards are required by the city, which does not regulate prices for rides.
But because so many rogue drivers are exploiting the loophole in the law — sticking onerous charges in fine print on the rate cards, then springing them on people at the end — the rules need to be toughened, said Garodnick.
“We’re determined to deal with the problem,” he said.
Last year, he crafted a bill that would force all pedicab operators to tell riders the total rate before they embark.
That rate would have to be written down to avoid confusion, he said.
“If somebody is willing to pay $400 plus to go 10 blocks, that’s their prerogative,” he said.
“But they should never get caught by surprise. It’s got to be prenegotiated.”
The bill is still in committee, but Garodnick expects it to be voted on as early as this fall.
The NYC Pedicab Owners Association — the leading industry group — also supports a regulation requiring riders be told the rates at the start of the trip.
It is calling for all pedicabs to have signs saying that the rate is binding only if it’s provided to cutomers before they start rolling.
Even doormen at some of the city’s top hotels say they regularly deal with pleading guests who have been hit with pedicab sticker shock.
“I’ve almost gotten into fistfights with them [the drivers],” said Waldorf-Astoria doorman Edgar Toro.
Freddy Davilla, a doorman at The Plaza, said he deals with egregiously overcharged out-of-towners six or seven times a week.
“It’s really out of control,” he said.
In some cases, he calls the cops to report the high prices, but police are hamstrung because the law lets the drivers charge whatever they want.
“We need these people [tourists] coming here,” Davilla said.
“We don’t need them getting ripped off.”
He said many of the tourists leave the city without reporting the problem because they are unfamiliar with 311.