red.

They were driven round the bend after finding their new taxi rate cards were littered with mistakes.

"The sheets did not have the correct amounts on them,'' said Bermuda Taxi Federation secretary Joe Brown.

"Apparently there were some angry taxi drivers. I found quite a few were visibly upset.'' Transport Control Department director Donald Dane reportedly took responsibility for the blunder.

The new rate cards were drawn up after Government last month approved a 20 percent fares increase.

It also put back the 25 percent late night surcharge from 10 p.m. to midnight.

The measures were passed in the face of furious protests by cabbies seeking a 25 percent increase.

Mr. Brown said cabbies were still far from pleased -- even with corrected cards.

"Drivers are very neat people and they had the cards laminated only to find they were incorrect. Now they are having to pay out again for lamination.'' He added the new cards also contained fares which would be bothersome to customers, forcing them to look for small change.

"For example, a $2.60 fare has gone up to $3.12. It would be so much better if the new figure was $3.10 or $3.15. We should have nicely rounded off figures.

"It's going to be really chaotic, asking customers to find one or two cents here and there.

"Drivers will be charging ridiculous fees which won't help anybody and leave passengers irate. There is going to be even more confusion because although the Government took away the surcharge between 10 p.m. and midnight, our meters include the 25 percent surcharge.

"Government wants taxi drivers to deduct the 25 percent when they get to a destination. It's really a chaotic situation.'' Mr. Brown said the problems stemmed from Government's failure to consult with the taxi industry before agreeing on a fares increase.