Kathmandu, May 31 Traffic police said they had taken action against 10,787 errant cabbies in Kathmandu valley in the past six months. Cabbies facing legal action for violation of traffic rules outnumber the cabs that are registered in the valley as they are repeat offenders. Of 10,500 taxis registered with Transport Management Office, around 9,000 are in operation. According to Metropolitan Traffic Division, 10,787 cabbies were booked between December 6 and May 14 for bargaining with passengers on fare, refusing to provide short distance service, tampering with fare-meters and overcharging. MTPD stated that 3,000 of the cabbies booked by traffic cops had refused to turn on fare-meter at the time of service. At least 40 plainclothes traffic police personnel have been deployed to apprehend erring cabbies. Unscrupulous cabbies are mostly found to have cheated people waiting for taxis at hospitals, bus parks, airport and busy thoroughfares of the city. Senior Superintendent of Police Basant Kumar Pant said traffic cops had also been keeping a close vigil on taxis that operate at night, as they try to fleece passengers, taking advantage of emergency and non-availability of public vehicles. In some cases, traffic cops in civvies masquerade as passengers to check how fairly cabbies are carrying out their business. SSP Pant urged passengers to lodge a complaint with MTPD whenever they come across fraudulent taxi drivers. He added that the law enforcement agency had continued the crackdown on unethical business practices of taxi drivers as a campaign. “We have been receiving more complaints from passengers, as traffic cops won their trust by taking action against fraudulent cabbies,” he said. MTPD has also stipulated a provision of suspending driving licence of cabbies for violating rules for six times. Anyone who is booked for the sixth time will face suspension of his/her licence for six months. The provision is a part of making transport service effective and reliable. Taxi drivers who operate taxis without turning on fare-meter are referred to the Transport Management Office for necessary action and are fined Rs 2,000 each. Cases of tampering with meter are dealt with by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology. Such violators are liable to a fine of up to Rs 5,000. Those refusing to travel short distance and overcharging passengers are fined Rs 1,500 each by traffic police.