Who can I file a complaint with about exorbitant cab fares in Washington DC?

I was just visiting Washington DC and at one point went from the Hilton Towers on Connecticut Ave (Dupont Circle) area to the Georgetown campus and was charged $35.





In DC they use zone billing and don't have a meter that you can watch. I questioned the driver why it was so much and he mumbled something about going through this zone and that zone but he barely spoke English so I really didn't understand what he meant and because I was running late I didn't have time to argue.





When I needed to catch a cab back, I asked the driver before I got in how much it would be and it was only $10.30. This is how much I paid when I got there too plus tip.





I asked the second driver if it should have cost more going the other direction and he said that it should not have - I was scammed.





I know now that you have to ask for the fare upfront but still that doesn't mean I should have been ripped off.





I unfortunately don't have the driver's name but I would still like to report it.|||Contrary to one of the answers here, NONE of the cabs in DC have meters. Virginia based cab companies require meters but DC does not Unfortunately, Virginia cabs aren't allowed to pick up passengers in DC (they can only come into the city if they bring passengers from Virginia). This 3rd world-like regulation is crazy in a tourist city, but some people keep arguing for it.





I am a DC resident and I don't know anyone who likes the zone system. In fact, the District never really wanted the zone system in the first place. Zones came about because of a 1933 meter ban by Congress.





One reason for this is that it is cheap for Senators, Congressmen, and Lobbyists since they use taxis to get from place to place within the downtown, which means they never have to pay fare for more than one zone.





If you have a complaint, here are the procedures for logging it with the DC taxi commission:





http://dctaxi.dc.gov/dctaxi/cwp/view,a,3鈥?/a>





It looks like you do need to have the drivers name/ license number though. I'd suggest you writing to your Congressman and complaining directly to him.





This issue bothers a lot of us here-- read about it yourself http://www.metersnotzones.com/|||A number of D.C. cabs have meters, too. It depends on the company.





Anyway, if you hailed a cab from the hotel, that's at least another few bucks or more. The Hilton is bad about that. Some hotels have cab surcharges.





Other surcharges: calling a cab (instead of hailing), rush hour surcharges, extra baggage/groceries/other people/gas charges, etc.





Dc.gov might be a starting place to report it, though honestly I think you'd be wasting your time without the taxi cab company name, driver, etc. Once you had over the money, it's gone.|||If you had all the driver's information, you would report it in writing to the DC Taxicab Commission. Since you don't have the info, there's nothing you can do about it.