Yesterday, the Central Region Traffic Court sentenced taxi driver Eyal Siman-Tov, who was convicted of charging passengers, among them tourists, exorbitant fares. In one case, exposed by "Globes" in February 2022, a Greek tourist paid NIS 700 for a ride from Ben Gurion Airport to Rehovot, a distance of about 24 kilometers by road. The current daytime fare for the trip is about NIS 110.
Siman-Tov admitted in a plea bargain to six instances of overcharging in 2021-2022, and Judge Idan Snir sentenced him to a fine of NIS 20,000, compensation of NIS 300 to each complainant, a two-month disqualification for driving suspended for two years, and an undertaking not to commit similar offences for three years.
The driver was convicted of waiting at the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport for tourists or non-Hebrew speakers, demanding outrageous fares, and lying about the value of bills given to him in payment.
"This is a crime with an economic aspect, and even many safety implications," the judge said. "They are crimes characterized by fraud on passengers, something that harms the public’s confidence in public transport services, and constitutes a breach of the duties imposed on taxi drivers."
The Greek tourist told "Globes" in February 2022, "A taxi driver approached me and asked where I needed to go. I explained that I had to get to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. I asked him how much the journey would cost, and he said between 200 and 250. I was sure that he was talking about the shekel price, and I asked several times. I never imagined that he meant a tariff in euros."
At the end of the journey, the driver showed him that the meter displayed a price of NIS 689. "My jaw dropped. I was very upset. I asked him ten times whether he was certain that that was the price, and that perhaps there was some mistake, but he said no. I paid him NIS 700 in cash, and he said that he had no change to give. In the end, he gave me back a shekel coin and another coin of ten agorot and said it was ten shekels. He said that the tariff was now different because of the Covid pandemic."
Following the report, the unit for preventing crime and checking the quality of service at Ben Gurion Airport tracked down the driver, who returned NIS 400 to the tourist.
The indictment describes the method that the taxi driver used to collect money. He would claim to passengers that they had given him a low-value bill, they would believe him, and give him another, high-value bill. Siman-Tov was convicted of failing to operate the taxi’s meter, collecting fares unlawfully, inappropriate behavior under the transport ordinance, and soliciting passengers to travel by taxi. It was found that he acted "methodically, manipulatively, craftily, and continually."
In one instance, Siman-Tov drove a woman from the airport to Ramat Gan for NIS 300 and another €50. At the end of the journey, she gave him a NIS 200 bill. He swapped it for a NIS 20 bill and claimed that that was what she had given him. In response, the passenger handed him a NIS 100 bill. In another instance, he drove a woman to Ashkelon and extracted NIS 850 from her, claiming that she had given him NIS 20 bills instead of NIS 200.
The method was repeated. A woman whom Siman-Tov drove to Ashdod paid NIS 498. The passenger gave him two $100 bills, and he claimed that she had given him two $1 bills, so she gave him another two $100 bills, and he again claimed that one of the bills was $1.
Adv. Idan Gispan, who represented Siman-Tov, said in response to the sentence, "My client chose to admit the charges in a lenient plea bargain that consists of suspended penalties and a fine only, in order not to risk the cancellation of his driving license, which serves him in earning his living as a taxi driver."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 12, 2024.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.