Licenses Pulled As Police Continue Firmer Oversight Of Taxis

Over this weekend, police carried out an inspection of taxi cars at Keflavík Airport, Vísir reports. This continues several months of tighter supervision of taxis at the airport, which began with Isavia, the managing company of Keflavík Airport, expelling 100 taxi drivers from the airport grounds for failing inspection this April.

In this weekend’s inspection, no driver was found unregistered. However, the police conducted speed surveys of the area during their inspection. Two taxi drivers were caught speeding and, as a result, had their licenses taken.

In an interview with Vísir, acting Сhief of Police at the Suðurnes police, Ómar Mehmet Annisius, explained that this weekend’s checks were not isolated events. “It’s not like we have any special efforts going on. The police have been doing this, and we will continue to do so,” says Ómar. “We monitor taxi drivers in the area, where we check, among other things, whether they have a driving license and a work and operating permit from the Icelandic Transport Authority. We use a checklist where we check whether the car has a visible price list, a fare meter, and so on.”

The Blue Lagoon has also taken recent steps to regulate taxis in its area, putting up signs to warn tourists against unlicensed or otherwise deceitful taxi drivers. The signs urge tourists to check the metre, certification and licensing of their driver, and to have a firmer understanding of normal taxi rates in Iceland.