Inspections by ARESEP (Regulatory Authority for Public Services) revealed that rural taxis only use their meters for decoration in many cases. Allowing them to charge users more than the official rates.

ARESEP began implementing surprise inspection because of numerous complaints by taxi takers. On September 2nd they inspected taxis in Acosta (south of San José) and found that 100% of the taxis didn’t use the meter. On August 24th, they inspected San Carlos, where 1 in 5 taxis didn’t bother with the meter. Earlier in August inspections were done in Guapiles, where only 10% of taxi drivers turned on the meter.

ARESEP reminded users to insist that drivers start the meter and not to fall for lies the drivers tell passengers. Some drivers say that the meter erases itself after 100,000 colones, so it “isn’t working” or they say that a particular route has a fixed rate.