More and more fake taxis on Quebec roads

Four years after the deregulation of the taxi industry in Quebec, the number of tickets given to fake taxi drivers has more than quintupled.

The entry into force in 2020 of the Law concerning the remunerated transport of people by automobile aimed to relax the regulatory framework to regularize the activities of passenger transport applications such as Uber.

But at the same time it opened the door to the arrival of illegal taxis who can pick up customers hostagedeplores the president of the Association of Taxis of the Regions of Quebec, Serge Lebreux.

To carry out paid passenger transport, a driver now only needs a lantern on his vehicle, 16 hours of training and two authorizations issued by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).

While lanterns are available online for only around thirty dollars, anyone can pose as a taxi driver and customers risk being defrauded, warns Mr. Lebreux.

An inattentive customer can bump into a driver who does not have certification, who has an illegal payment terminaladds the CEO of Taxelco, Frédéric Prégent. Other illegal drivers add fees during the trip and threaten customers who refuse to pay with leaving them on the side of the road.

The phenomenon is especially present in Montreal, according to Quebec Highway Control, which regulates the transport of people. While illegal taxis were very present near the airport, Quebec adopted a regulation at the beginning of 2024 forcing drivers to obtain authorization before offering their services there.

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Since the start of 2024, 166 tickets have been issued by road inspectors in Quebec. Before 2023, the responsibility for ensuring taxi compliance on the island of Montreal was with the Montreal Taxi Bureau, which was abolished at the end of 2022.

The city of Montreal had a register managed by the Montreal Taxi Bureauallowing inspectors to geolocate and control all vehicles on their territoryrecalls Serge Lebreux.

It’s super difficult to see if a taxi is a real taxi or a fake taxideplores CEO of Taxelco, owner of several taxi organizations in Montreal.

The spokesperson for Quebec Highway Control, Alain Gilbert, adds that his work has also become complicated since license plates beginning with the letter T, which were unique to duly registered taxis, were removed from circulation in 2021 .

Since deregulation, road inspectors, of whom there are only 22 on the island of Montreal, can only carry out a plate check or intercept questionable vehicles.

This is a loss of administrative controldeplores Mr. Lebreux, who estimates that the number of illegal taxis multiplied by 10 in reality.

MM. Lebreux and Prégent also noticed another phenomenon. More and more people are putting a lantern on the roof of their vehicle to drive on reserved lanes and avoid traffic jams.

This summer, the Canadian Taxi Association urged Amazon to stop selling lanterns on its platform, but the company refused.

Frédéric Prégent believes that this is not the best way to go about it. I think it’s more at the level of regulation and controlhe said. It demands that fines from really severe are given to offenders and that the public is better informed.

The law provides that fines ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 can be given to drivers when they or their vehicle are not qualified.

The Association of Taxis of the Regions of Quebec asks the SAAQ to require proof of membership in a taxi company or cooperative before issuing authorizations.

She also wants the old register to be used again and for all taxis to be equipped with geolocation devices, which would make the work of road controllers easier.

With information from Élyse Allard