The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has equipped more than 5,000 cabs with a new system to alert riders if they are being charged an out of town rate.

The move comes after the TLC announced thousands of drivers bilked passengers out of more than $8 million over the last two years.

They say some cabbies were switching the rate code for trips within the city to a higher code that’s only supposed to be used for trips outside the five boroughs.

When the higher code is used, the rate doubles from 40 cents per one fifth of a mile to 80 cents.

Passengers traveling within the city who see this alert are asked to report the incident to 311.

The rest of the city’s cabs are expected to be equipped with the warning system over the next few days.

In addition, the TLC is working on an audio component to warn riders of the fare hike.

A longer term solution that would keep drivers from manually changing the meter is also said to be in the works.

(Source: http://www.ny1.com/)