Here are four more popular Istanbul taxi scams. You can find the first six popular Istanbul taxi scams here. This page is a bonus page for subscribers to the Istanbul Checklists Series. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so in the sidebar.
Higher Base Fee
- Scam — The taxi driver just dropped off a customer after a short ride and thus a small fare. Instead of resetting the meter to the base fee, he use the previous fare as the starting point, so you end up paying more than you actually should.
- Solution — Make sure that the taxi driver starts the meter at the current base taxi fee. Just do as the locals do. After getting in, just when the taxi starts moving, very ostentatiously have a look at the meter. This is not considered rude, you may even gain the driver’s respect.
Fiddling With the Meter
- Scam — This taxi scam occurs frequently with taxis where the meter is installed in the middle bottom section of the dashboard. While driving, the driver rests his hand of the gear stick. This looks innocent enough, but without you noticing he presses some buttons on the meter, every time adding a small amount or speeding up the increment.
- Solution 1 — You could make sure one person sit in the front seat next to the driver and keeps an eye on the meter. Or, again do as locals do: every five minutes or so, very ostentatiously have a look at the meter. The driver will notice this and know you are aware of his tricks.
- Solution 2 — Take taxis with the meter on the rear view mirror, then you will be safe as they can’t fiddle with those meters.
Fare Is Per Person
- Scam — This scam doesn’t happen often, but a few readers have complained about it, so I wanted to add it to the list. This happens mostly when you have agreed on a fixed fare, mostly for a rather short drive, e.g. 6 TL. After reaching the destination, one person hands over the money, after which the driver waits for the others to pay too, uttering that the agreed upon fare was per person.
- Solution — Taxi fares are always per vehicle, never per person. Another reason why I advise to always use the meter and not agree on fixed prices.
Unsafe Driving
This is not a scam, but some Istanbul taxi drivers think the city is one giant race track. Sure, they are very experienced drivers and want to serve as much customers in a day as possible. If you ever start feeling unsafe, just tell the driver yavaş (yavash), which means as much as ‘slow down’. Just repeat the word until the driver reaches a speed you feel comfortable with. If he doesn’t comply, just get out at the first opportunity you have.
Again, the Majority Is Honest
Let this list not scare you or assume that there are no honest taxi drivers in Istanbul. Here’s what Tigger wrote me on 22 May, 2015:
Just to offer a counter to all these stories about unscrupulous taxi drivers …. I arrived by train from Greece on a dark, wet evening. At the station were taxi drivers, waiting for rides. Now I know Istanbul very well, but the young Greek woman I met on the train had never been there before. She was expecting her sister to collect her, but her sister was nowhere to be seen. She was terrified of being alone as she’s obviously been fed stories about the ‘terrible Turks’ so I offered to wait with her until her sister arrived.
A taxi driver approached us, and I explained why we weren’t looking for a ride. Immediately he took out his cell phone, offered it to my companion with a smile and said “Here. You can call her.” She was overwhelmed!
So, you see, the taxi drivers in Istanbul are not ALL taxi mafia. Though it’s good to be aware of those few that are, who may leave a bad taste in one’s mouth and spoil an otherwise wonderful visit.
Tim says
My experience of taxi scums:
1. You order taxi through Uber app. The price in the app is like 260-358 TRY. When you ask a driver to switch on the meter, the driver says the price is fixed with the app and it is 358 TRY.
Then, a few hours after the ride, I have seen in the final price was 214 TRY actually.
2. Today – got a taxi from the airport to Sultanahmet. 40 mins before that came from Sultanahmet to the airport for 220 TRY by meter. I see that the meter goes suspiciously fast – like 40 TRY after 5 min ride from the airport. Saying to the driver that there is something wrong with his meter, it cannot be like that, the price should not be more than 260. He started to argue, that the prices raised. I offered him to check the meter with police, and after that he stopped arguing. Maybe I was wrong or he switched it back somehow – the final fare was 243 and I was ok with that. But he said he need 40 TRY extra because he took me from the airport. We started to argue again. The funny thing is that the guys at the reception of my hotel have supported him and said that he is right and that is normal practice, though I am still sure that is bullshit.
Erlend says
Hi Tim,
Depending on the route the taxi driver took, the road can be a toll road. If that is the case, the taxi driver has the right to add that expense (one-way) to your cab fare.
Tim says
I did not see him stopping to pay somewhere.
How can that be checked?
Erlend says
They don’t have to stop. They have a device in the car that registers their identity, and they get a monthly bill for all toll fees they accumulated over the course of a month. It’s difficult to check indeed, certainly for tourists. You can see those detection systems hanging over the highways and their exits, as well as at the entrances of tunnels and bridges.
Tim says
I know that in many other countries, if the road toll is being charged automatically, then it automatically being added to the amount at the taximeter. And that is reasonable. Is not it the same in Turkey?
Erlend says
No, it’s not.
Peter B says
I believe I am 100% on the Istanbul taxi drivers scamming (or, more recently, trying to scam me as I have wised up to some of these scams)
This morning was a new one… My hotel called a taxi to the airport very early in the morning. I insisted that he use the meter, but he just as strongly insisted that since he had come to me he was going to charge a flat rate (which was about half again as much as the meter would have been – 90 instead of about 60). Ultimately I had to get to the airport and didn’t have time to wait for another taxi so I just had to pay it.
Is there ever an additional charge if the taxi comes because of a phone call?
Erlend says
Hi Peter,
I’m afraid you’re right, it was a scam. There is no additional charge if the taxi comes because of a phone call. They used to insist for turning the meter on as they leave their stand on the way to pick you up and argue even with the locals saying that they need to protect their costs for leaving their taxi-stand short distances. Now though, there is an application as minimum fixed price. So they should definitely start their meter when you get in. The authorities constantly urge people to report these kind of cases. In the case that the driver has to wait for you before you get in, he has the right to turn the meter on after he arrives the pickup point.
Anne Marie Nielson says
In early July we caught an airport bus to Eminönü. We then tried to catch a taxi to our accommodation. We got into the taxi with our luggage and taxi driver quoted 40 Tl. We requested the meter to be used. He then threw our bags out of the boot then proceeded to obviously tell other taxi drivers not to pick us up. About 5 more drivers refused to take us, eventually a local took pity on us and pulled another cab in and the driver took us to our destination. Meter reading was 12 Tl! We tipped him well! We had two more incidences of this behaviour in Istanbul on the only two other times we caught taxis. I spoke to the police about this and they said take photos of number plates and report. When I took photos of number plates after the the second and third instances, the meter was used! I suggest all tourists take obvious photos of number plates before they get in and request meter usage! My husband was once a taxi driver in Sydney and we have chosen not to use Uber to support taxi industry and we were disgusted with this behaviour, we chose to use public transport most of our time in Istanbul, when we would have gladly used honestly priced taxis more and given a tip! Ps thanks for doing this site it is very helpful.
Erlend says
Hi Anne Marie,
I’m so glad to hear that you took the wise decision to get out. And you’re absolutely right, as I mention in the article(s), always check for signs whether it’s an official taxi (number, rank logo), take a picture of the license plate and of the driver taxi license on the back passenger door inside the taxi. Just in case. If you forget and you feel like you got hustled, you can always take a picture the moment you get out. And by all means, do tell the police. They are really eager to chase them down because they stain the famous Turkish hospitality and honesty.
Thanks.