Claudia Gualdi, travel intelligence data lead at Riskline provided a comment for Clement Tan from CNBC Travel on the topic of taxi safety and cabbing in Italy.
“I knew something was amiss when the taxi meter read 10.50 euros as we pulled away from the Roma Termini train station.
While negotiating the evening rush hour traffic and typing into a translation app on his cell phone, the cab driver suggested the starting fare included a surcharge for all rides from Rome’s main train station.
That was at most a half-truth and all the confirmation I needed to know that I had become a statistic — one of thousands of tourists who are scammed by taxi drivers in Italy every year.
According to Rome’s tourism authority, the taxi meter should have started at 3 euros as with all rides between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays, with one additional euro for the second piece of luggage in the trunk.
Some travel sites suggest there’s an additional 2 euro surcharge for all taxi rides from Roma Termini, although that information is not listed on official sites.
The 5 km ride from Roma Termini to my guesthouse in Trastevere came up to 24 euros — about double the amount that was suggested by a Google search and a local taxi ride hailing app that I frantically downloaded during the ride.
The worry is always about the extent of the overcharges. But what to do — especially as a helpless tourist, locked inside the back of a car in a foreign city?
Here are three things that can help on your next Italy holiday.”
