When you arrive at an airport in a developing country, it’s not uncommon to get hassled by unlicensed taxi drivers trying to pick up (and often scam) unsuspecting tourists. Since 2018, unfortunately, this has also been a common occurrence at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.
Almost every time I land in Melbourne and head out through the arrivals hall, a random man (and I don’t mean to be sexist – but it always is a man) will approach me uttering “Taxi? You need a taxi?”. In fact, it usually happens several times in a row as I leave the airport.
I even once had a random driver approach me wearing an official-looking Melbourne Airport lanyard. I asked him if he worked for Melbourne Airport and he just walked off. 🤷
The ongoing problem with unlicensed taxi drivers at Melbourne Airport
Australian Frequent Flyer previously covered the Melbourne Airport taxi tout problem back in 2019. Since then, the Victorian parliament has made touting for commercial passenger vehicle services illegal. At the time, it specifically cited Melbourne Airport as a place where touting “is a particular issue”.
The Victorian government says that offenders can now be fined almost $10,000. Yet, not much has changed at all. Even though touting is technically now illegal, I think the problem might have actually become worse. Clearly there still isn’t enough of a disincentive for drivers, as they’re still doing it!
Many of these drivers are likely unlicensed, which means they may not be insured for commercial passenger rides. They also don’t tend to use meters, leading unsuspecting tourists open to getting scammed into paying too much. Their presence at Melbourne Airport is also unfair to legitimate taxi and Uber drivers, and makes the airport less pleasant for passengers.
Creative excuses
I have never taken up an unsolicited offer of a taxi at Melbourne Airport, nor do I plan to. I normally take the bus from Melbourne Airport.
Sometimes they can be very pushy, so my usual response is to ask the driver if they’re aware it’s illegal to solicit for taxi passengers. The responses to this vary, but the drivers usually have some sort of clever excuse prepared. Here are a few of my favourites:
- “Oh, I was just asking if you need a taxi so I could direct you to the rank”
- “I’m actually a legitimate driver, but my ride cancelled at the last minute”
- “I was talking on the phone”
- “Oh, I’m waiting for Mr Smith. Are you Mr Smith?”
What is being done about this?
Melbourne Airport does make regular announcements in its terminals.
“Taxi ranks are located outside terminals 1 and 4. For your safety, do not accept any offer of a taxi inside these zones,” the announcement says.
When I visited recently, I did also spot a small sign between Terminal 4 and the bus station (pictured at the top of this article). But that’s the only one I found outside any of the four terminals.
Beyond that, I’ve rarely seen anyone actually try to move on the drivers loitering around the ground floor of the airport. Even if they did, I suspect most of the drivers would just return later.
Strong penalties are meaningless if they aren’t enforced. And I’ve certainly never seen anyone being fined or charged for touting at Melbourne Airport.
Melbourne Airport did not respond to our request for comment.
