Hefty fines, tightened rules, increased surveillance: measures aimed at combating the phenomenon of “illegal taxis” come into force this Thursday at Montreal-Trudeau airport, more than seven months after the adoption of a regulation National Assembly.
This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, on the social network X at the start of the day. She had telegraphed her intentions on this subject as early as June, but the changes to the Act respecting the remunerated transportation of persons by automobile ended up taking longer than expected.
In the meantime, the phenomenon of “illegal taxis” does not seem to have slowed down since June, despite the announcement of government measures in sight. Passing through the airport, The Press was also requested by several unauthorized drivers at the beginning of January.
According to our information, the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) has also had to intervene a few times at the airport for conflicts between drivers in recent months.
From March 2023, The Press had revealed that the offenses recorded were multiplying by the hundreds at the airport to deplore the presence of these “illegal taxis”. The cause: sometimes harassing drivers, who seek to defraud the user by increasing the price arbitrarily. In 2022, 660 such events had been reported. It was from this moment that the government became involved in the matter.
The new rules
As of Thursday, a driver will therefore be formally prohibited from “adopting any behavior likely to annoy or intimidate the individual contacted”, under penalty of severe penalties.
It will also now be punishable to “touch the person or their property”, or even solicit them “persistently despite their refusal”, follow them, hinder their movements, or even threaten and insult them. Any violator of this rule will be exposed to hefty fines of up to $50,000.
The law will also require, as of Thursday, those responsible – in this case Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) – to maintain a “register of authorizations issued” to the various operators, namely mainly taxis and Uber vehicles.
Fines of up to around $10,000 are finally planned for drivers who do not hold a paid transport authorization at the time of an inspection. In the event that a driver does not have the authorization issued to him or her, he or she will be liable to a fine ranging between $250 and $750.
On the surveillance side, we have already adjusted on the airport side. Since this summer, ADM has in fact increased the number of security agents in the sectors targeted by illegal taxis, mainly at the Montreal-Trudeau arrivals landing stage.