Thousands for a short ride: Prague taxi complaints reveal the cost of no caps

A taxi passenger traveling from Prague’s Duplex nightclub to Na Františku Hospital reported paying €320. Another listed CZK 7,560 for a journey from the city center to Václav Havel Airport. The largest amount in the records was CZK 9,955, with neither the pickup nor destination specified.

These are among 70 complaints about excessive fares recorded during the period surrounding Prague’s temporary removal of taxi price caps. The list, published by the Chamber of Taxi Operators, has brought fresh scrutiny to a short-lived policy change that the city reversed in October.

Prague City Hall has confirmed the list’s authenticity. The entries document passenger complaints only, however, not completed investigations or findings that every reported fare was unlawful.

The table identifies the reported payment, pickup point, destination and type of complainant. Sixty-nine entries describe the complainant as a foreign tourist; one identifies a Czech citizen.

A count of the supplied records found 43 journeys with the airport listed at one end, representing just over 60 percent of the complaints. Other pickup points include the main railway station, Old Town Square, hotels and nightlife venues.

The pattern places unfamiliar passengers at the center of the story: people arriving in Prague, leaving for a flight or finding transport after a night out.

Selected entries from the complaint table published by the Chamber of Taxi Operators. Amounts are passenger-reported payments.

As Expats.cz previously reported, maximum prices for metered taxis ceased to apply Oct. 1. That followed an August increase in the permitted distance charge from CZK 36 to CZK 42 per kilometer. Going by estimated distances in the list of complaints, some customers had been charged up to CZK 1,000 per kilometer during the exemption.

The removal immediately raised questions about who had authorized it. The published justification referred to a decision by Prague’s leadership, while Deputy Mayor for Transport Jaromír Beránek disputed that a final political decision had been reached. He said he had requested material for further discussion rather than immediate abolition.

The city restored the caps effective Oct. 21, citing complaints and insufficient protection from market competition alone. The reinstated limits include CZK 42 per kilometer and CZK 7 per minute of waiting for regulated metered services.

The findings have also provoked a reaction within the trade. In the accompanying Facebook post, chamber vice president Štěpán Hradečný announced that he was suspending his work for the organization, criticizing the drivers responsible for the excessive fares for casting a bad light on the local profession.

The central difficulty is that removing a price ceiling changes what authorities can establish from the amount alone.

A payment above the former maximum does not, by itself, prove a breach of a pricing rule that was no longer in force. Establishing whether another violation occurred requires the circumstances of the individual journey, including the information given to the passenger and how the payment was calculated.

For passengers now, an important distinction remains between regulated metered journeys and app-booked services such as Uber and Bolt, which operate outside the reinstated city fare caps.

Before setting off, check the tariff or quoted fare and keep the receipt or electronic booking record. Prague Airport directs passengers with fare complaints to write to taxi@praha.eu. Include the journey date, route, payment evidence and any available driver or vehicle details to help identify the service.