Can a taxi double or triple it's fare?

Question

I live in a small town and whenever I call a taxi, they always stop and pick up other passengers on the way, making the total in the car sometimes 6, 7 to 8. One time an infant was placed in the middle of the front seat with no restraint and the cabbie said nothing. Tonight we went 20 miles out of our way, to the next town, to pick up someone else before they dropped us off. All the time charging each one fare for the trip. We are always squeezed in the backseat sharing the cab but not the fare. Is this illegal for the cab to be double faring or sometimes triple faring? Something just doesn't seem right about this whole thing. I thought when you called for a taxi, it would be up to us to make the decision of whether we stopped to get other passengers.... or at least the cab driver would ask us if we minded... but it's mandatory in this town. Tonight we were even told that we couldn't put our bags, (from Wal-Mart) in the backseat because he was stopping to get other passengers.??? HELP!

Answer 1

The whole thing sounds illegal. How could a cabbie accurately determine what to charge each passenger in a situation like that.? Talk to the police. They should be able to tell you what the laws concerning cabs are in your area.