In Zaragoza, taxi drivers are “fed up” with rude people who request their services and then do not pay for them. They say that before there were sporadic cases, but that since the pandemic they have registered a "notable" increase. For this reason, the slogan in the union for some time has been clear: “Not a 'sympa' without a complaint. Whether it's 10 euros or 200, we'll go as far as it takes," says Miguel Ángel Perdiguero, president of the Provincial Autotaxi Association of Zaragoza, which brings together more than 90% of the 1,777 licenses.
The lawyer Marco Antonio Navarro, who earned his title behind the wheel of a taxi, is in charge of advising and representing the drivers. He serves them at the cooperative on Mondays and Thursdays, with busy days at their door. According to his account, he processes more than a hundred complaints a year for these cases, a good part of which end up in court. “We have had a very favorable result,” emphasizes the lawyer, who positively values the sensitivity of the magistrates and sees these sanctions as a warning to sailors.
Because a 'simpa' of a few euros can cost the offender very expensive. In addition to the amount of the fare, taxi drivers also claim compensation (for example, for the time lost waiting for the scammer to return to pay when he says he is going to take money from home) and procedural costs.
As a result, sentences of several hundred euros have been handed down for not paying bills of less than 20. “If they do not pay it, they are warned that they will add one day in prison for every two daily fine installments not paid,” clarifies the lawyer. Some have already gone to jail.
Drivers have also become more serious about the issue of vomiting inside the vehicle due to alcohol consumption, which the taxi law considers as a minor offense that carries a penalty of 100 to 400 euros. “It's not just the cost of cleaning. Some are like a volcano, they can leave your car unusable to work all night,” says Perdiguero. At first, he says they try to reach an agreement with the client. But if not, to the court.
To identify the scammers and prove these facts - or others, such as attacks -, the police use the data of the telephone from which the unpaid service was requested or the images of the video surveillance cameras that many incorporate. of these vehicles, increasingly common in the Aragonese capital.
If only 10% of the Zaragoza fleet had this safety device in 2020, today more than 40% do so, and the forecast is that its use will increase.
Those who own them have stickers on their windows warning their customers of their existence and that they have requests to fill out if they get on and refuse to be recorded. In principle, the images are deleted after 30 days, but they are saved if there is a mishap as a test. “At first they serve to deter and, if there is a fault, they are key to proving it,” says Perdiguero.
For now, the union is satisfied with the results of its strategy. In addition, they assure that they are becoming “more selective” with their clientele, especially at night, and ask for recognition for their work. “We are a public service, it's enough that they disrespect us,” adds their representative.
