FED up with cabbies who overcharge or give poor service, some passengers are starting an online war against them.

The complaints are everywhere - on personal blogs, forums and even special websites dedicated to them.

Some incensed passengers have posted clips on video-sharing websites like YouTube to shame them.

One video, showing a taxi driver swearing loudly in Hokkien, is accompanied by a short write-up, naming the taxi driver and his company.

Another video records a dialogue between a passenger and a taxi driver who is trying to charge extra by taking a longer route.

A website called the Taxi Man, is one blogger's collection of taxi-ride accounts. He tells stories of being ripped off, turned down for short taxi trips and treated rudely.

A simple online search with the keywords 'Singapore taxi drivers' yields numerous detailed blog posts - complete with pictures - of taxi drivers who drive recklessly, overcharge their customers, or offend in other ways.

Misbehaving taxi drivers, it seems, have provided much fodder for online rants. The most common complaints: over-charging and refusing to take passengers on short trips.

These complaints are a far cry from the online outpouring of support for taxi drivers during the Sars outbreak in 2003.

At the time, many expressed the need to give more financial help to taxi drivers whose livelihoods were hit hard by the outbreak, through blog posts and letters to the media.

ONLY A MINORITY

Numerous as these complaints are, taxi drivers The New Paper spoke to insist the offending drivers are a minority.

There are about 24,000 taxis on the road, making about 600,000 trips a day.

Said one 52-year-old taxi driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee: 'There will always be black sheep, who destroy the image of taxi drivers.

'These are the drivers who deserve to have their licenses revoked.'

He added, however, that there are now fewer such drivers, now that taxi companies are taking a much harder stand against them.

Earlier this year, The New Paper reported that errant taxi drivers who negotiate fares or overcharge passengers by not using metered fares are counselled or, in rare cases, sacked.

Added Mr Lee: 'Taxi companies liaise with one another, so they know when a taxi driver from one company has been blacklisted. If one company doesn't want a driver, it's not like he can simply move over to another company.'

He lamented, however, that a tiny number of errant drivers was enough to give all taxi drivers a bad name.

There are more than 80,000 people holding taxi drivers' vocational licences.

Others also agree taxi drivers are now less likely to practise unethical behaviour because the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is taking a more serious view of errant drivers.

For example, in May this year, The New Paper exposed taxi touts who prey on unsuspecting foreigners at tourist spots like Sentosa, Clarke Quay and along Orchard Road.

Last week, The Straits Times reported on taxi touts who were negotiating non-metered fares at Clarke Quay.

According to the LTA, the penalty for touting is a $200 fine plus five demerit points.

The same applies if the driver repeats the offence within a 24-month period.

The driver's vocational licence will be suspended between two and eight weeks, depending on the demerit points accumulated.

OVERCHARGING

Said another driver, 53, who wanted to be known only as Maggie: 'Previously, many drivers overcharged tourists because they thought they wouldn't know anything.

'But now, the terms and conditions of fares are spelt out clearly to passengers, and the authorities also take tougher action against taxi drivers who overcharge.'

Her approach, she says, is to offer good service in return for a generous tip.

'Sometimes, if you talk to passengers about where they can get good deals or good food, they will give you a big tip,' she said.

She explained, however, that there are difficulties which may encourage taxi drivers to be errant.

The main one, she says, is the high cost of operating a taxi - hers comes to about $150 a day, for diesel and rent.

'I need to make at least $240 a day to cover my costs and make a decent living,' she said.

To make that amount, Maggie said she sometimes needs to work more than 12 hours a day.

Agreeing, Mr Lee said increases in metered fares were not enough to compensate for increases in fuel prices, which are now at a record high.

But cheating, he says, is not an option.

'It's not worth getting into trouble just to make a little extra money - it's not going to make me a millionaire,' he said.

On taxi drivers who reject passengers who only need to travel a short distance, Mr Lee said it is the taxi occupancy rate, rather than the length of each trip, that matters.

He said: 'What's the point if one trip is long, but you don't get another passenger for a long time after dropping off that passenger?

'It's better to have a few short trips, than none at all. And in the taxi business, everything really depends on luck.'

SHORT TRIPS

Agreeing, another taxi driver, Mr Lim, 62, said he prefers short trips, especially if they are during peak hours.

He said in Mandarin: 'You make money faster if the trips are short and fast - and you spend less time sitting in traffic jams.

'Different people have different strategies to make money.'

On the large number of complaints directed at taxi drivers, Mr Lim said: 'Singaporeans love to complain - they can complain all they want, but they need to see that there are many issues taxi drivers face which they don't understand.

'But on the other hand, complaints also show us where our mistakes are, and how we can improve.'

Passengers can lodge complaints against taxi drivers by calling the LTA hotline 1800-2255582.