Cabbies speak out on racism

Taxi drivers facing abuse. (from left) Rupinder Singh Gill, Roman Saily, Bartinder Singh Lotey, Rajeev Sharma, Rajinder Chauhan, Mohinder Singh. PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

Tauranga Mount Taxis driver Naveep Kullar has been called a "n***** " and asked "who let you into the country" and "why are you taking our jobs?"

The cabbie said he had been subjected to racial abuse, swearing, vandalism of his vehicle and people refusing to pay the fare.

He was part of a group of taxi drivers who met New Zealand Independent Coalition leader Brendan Horan yesterday to raise their concerns and the way police handled their complaints.

Cab drivers were reluctant to report incidents to police because of the amount of time it took to lodge a complaint and because they were often treated as civil matters, Mr Kullar said.

Mr Kullar (pictured above) said several weeks ago a passenger had gone "wild", inside the cab after being picked up from a nightclub.

He said he called the police but the man was not charged. "They said they would drop him off and I didn't get my fare."

Mr Kullar said he was given the man's cellphone number and told it was a civil matter.

Tauranga Mount Taxis chairman Roman Saily said too many cabbies were not reporting problems to the police.

Not paying the fare was theft, he said.

"It's our bread and butter ... It's fraud. Most incidents happen on a Friday or Saturday night and the biggest problem is cabbies don't want to argue over $20 because they will lose money especially if they have to go to the police station."

Mr Horan said he planned to approach Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton and said taxi drivers needed to be able to feel safe on the job.

"All New Zealanders deserve to go to work, get paid, be safe in their occupation and taken seriously by the police," he said.

Race Relations commissioner Dame Susan Devoy said reports of racist abuse against taxi drivers were a "sad, recurring theme" throughout the country.

Police did not respond to questions from the Bay of Plenty Times in time for this edition.