Even though most merchants in SIN are very honest many taxi drivers are not. The most frequent ripoff is to add surcharges when picking up someone at a hotel. This will show in the "Extras" display on the meter. This happens to me about 75% of the time when going from a hotel to the airport. Another scam that has only happened once is not to use the meter and then display the previous fare which is much higher.

When I get ripped off I get the license plate of the taxi, phone number of the taxi company. I refuse to pay and go get a police officer. The police really can't do anything about it but it scares the driver so much that he will often say to forget the fare if you let him go and don't file a complaint. The police told me to contact the Land Transport Authority (LTA) 1800 - 2255 582. You can file complaints with the LTA and/or the taxi company. I have not tried contacting the LTA.

A list of charges can be found at http://www.cdgtaxi.com.sg/commuters_...mvn?cid=681937 . Typical surcharges include the 10-50% midnight surcharge and the S$3 or S$5 surcharge for rides originating from the airport.