It turned out to be a nightmare taxi ride - for the cab driver.

The trip from Mei Ling Street to Jurong West last year cost $13, and taxi driver Jeffrey Ma, 59, turned around to collect the fare.

Instead of paying him, the heavily tattooed passenger, who was in his 20s, jumped out of the cab and slammed the door.

When Mr Ma rolled down the window and reminded him of the fare, the youth held up a clenched fist and threatened in Hokkien: "Do you still want the money?" He then swaggered away.

Mr Ma could only write the incident last year off as "my bad luck?"

While two major taxi operators could not give year-on-year figures, 10 cabbies my paper spoke to affirmed that there are more taxi bullies these days.

They are so fearful of the latter that some drivers declined to be named because they did not want to be targeted by the bullies.

Mr Ma's colleague was even more unlucky.

He had been driving a tipsy passenger from Boat Quay to Jurong West after midnight last year. At the destination, the middle-aged passenger tossed a $10 bill for a $25 fare and got out of the cab.

When the driver chased him for the rest of the fare, the man bashed him up so badly he had to be hospitalised for a few days.

Indeed, while there have been reports of bus bullies and campaigns started by bus companies to curb violence on buses, taxi drivers are easy targets too, as they drive alone or at night.

ComfortDelgro, the operator with the largest fleet of 15,000 cabs, said there were about 11 assaults
on its drivers last year.

SMRT Taxis, the second largest operator with about 3,000 taxis in its fleet, reports about three assaults a year. There are six taxi groups here.

The bullying comes in many forms: physical abuse, verbal abuse, fare cheats and even booking pranksters.

Taxi operators have hotlines and dialogue sessions so their drivers can make reports, and
ComfortDelgro drivers may take out insurance against the theft or robbery of CashCards or money
up to $300.

The number of people who do not pay the fare is also on the rise, said ComfortDelgro spokesman
Tammy Tan. In 2006 and 2007, it had over 2,000 non-payment cases each year, or about 84 cases monthly.

But this number of cheats may be higher than reported, as many cabbies do not go to the police or their companies.

Mr Ma said: "It's inconvenient and can take the whole day to make a report. We need to keep on driving to earn money.?

One cabby, Mr Lee, was resigned.

"That's just the difficulties that come with the job. We try not to think about it."

BULLIES CABBIES RUN INTO

1) FARE CHEATS

A CABBY, who only wanted to be known as Mr Lee, described a ploy by some young couples.

"The young man drops his girlfriend home first, and when the cab stops at traffic lights, he
just runs out of the cab," he said.

The 70-year-old has been on the wrong end of this trick a few times himself but is "too old
to give chase".

2) DOUBLE TROUBLE

INCONSIDERATE passengers also often prey on unsuspecting cabbies by calling cabs from two
separate companies.

ComfortDelgro cabby Ricky Tan, 59, said he once waited a long time outside a Hougang condominium for a family who never showed up.

He found out the family's ploy after comparing stories with other cabbies.

This family calls for two cabs twice, from different companies, and hops into the first ones that arrive. The cabbies involved have since made reports to their companies.

3) VERBAL ABUSE

MR JEFFREY MA, 59, said he had to stop his taxi at the side of the road, because his passenger, who was in his 60s, kept shouting at him.

He had chosen a route his passenger did not like, even though the latter had said it was "up to you".

"It would have been a $20 fare, if I had continued driving," he said in Mandarin. "But I
couldn't drive. I was so disturbed I would have got into an accident."