Tourists beware: popular Budapest taxi company defrauded customers?

The Economic Competition Authority has initiated an investigation against one of the most popular Budapest taxi service providers due to an alleged violation of the prohibition of unfair commercial practices towards consumers. The competition office objects to several things in the Budapest taxi company’s communication.

The Hungarian Competition Authority is investigating the misleading advertising of this popular Budapest taxi company

According to the Economic Competition Authority, City Taxi, a private taxi company “misled consumers regarding the essential characteristics of the business and its commitments related to the passenger taxi service it provided,” the agency writes in a press release.

The competition supervision procedure was initiated due to two allegations. According to the office, since 10 January 2024, the service provider:

• used the adjective “Hungarian” – without additional context – and thus likely mislead consumers regarding the essential characteristics of the business;
• used the term “price guarantee” and thus likely gave the wrong impression that the company’s pricing was unique and provided on a voluntary basis, despite the fact that fare prices are based on a legal requirement.

Since the Budapest taxi company carried out the potentially deceptive marketing practice through a national radio station, it was justified for the Competition Authority to take action.

It is important to note that officials highlight that the initiation of the procedure does not mean that City Taxi has committed a violation of the law for certain: the purpose of the procedure is simply to clarify the facts and prove (or disprove) the allegations against the taxi company.

Three months are available to collect evidence and to complete the investigation, which can be extended twice, both times by a maximum of two months, in justified cases.

Attention: taxi hyenas on the streets of Budapest

Earlier this year, we reported on so-called Budapest taxi hyenas in Hungary who use predatory tactics to scam tourists out of their money by billing extremely high amounts for journeys.

We shared the story of an Irish woman who, having not realised that her cabbie had tampered with the taxi meter (adding an extra zero to the final sum so that, for example, a 10 EUR ride costs 100 EUR in the end), had so much money taken from her card that later at the bar she could not pay at all, as her account was completely drained.

At the time, the Budapest police headquarters acknowledged receiving multiple reports of similar scams and assured the public that investigations were underway.

Indeed, just this month we wrote about about Budapest police apprehending three taxi hyenas as part of a routine inspection of city roads, who during the course of the taxi ride manipulated their meters without the passengers’ knowledge, resulting in inflated fares at the end.

Two Budapest taxi hyenas charged HUF 880 (EUR 2.25) per kilometre instead of the standard 440 forints/kilometre (EUR 1.12/kilometre), while one manipulated the meter to read HUF 3,500 and then 5,500 (EUR 8.94 and 14.05) per kilometre during the journey.

Read also:

Uber in Hungary: Secures dispatching license and launches in Budapest with game-changing partnership! – HERE

Taxi fares can rise again in Budapest while ‘banned’ Uber returns – Read about it HERE

Source: Gazdasági Versenyhivatal