The TLC may think it's doing the right thing by increasing penalties for illegal taxi drivers, but it's actually hurting its own enforcement officers — literally, sources told The Post.
Illegal hacks who have their cars seized are more likely to get physical with Taxi and Limousine Commission officers now that the penalties are stiffer, sources said.
"This is yet another thing that puts our lives in danger," fumed one TLC source. "If a guy is making $30 bucks a day and trying to feed himself or his family, do you think he's going to give up that car, knowing how much it costs to get it out?"
The price for drivers looking to plead guilty and free their seized vehicle had been slowly rising in recent years.
But the fee increased dramatically on Aug. 11, jumping from $600 for a first-time offense to $750.
A second offense within 36 months rose from $800 to $950, while the cost of racking up a third offense or more within the same period increased from $1,000 to $1,150.
"The worst part is [the TLC] doesn't even tell us about the increase," another enforcement source griped. "We have to find out the hard way when drivers start getting up in our faces.
"It would be nice if they would give us a heads up so we could watch our backs out there,'' the source said.
Unlike other peace officers such as MTA Bridge and Tunnel cops, TLC inspectors don't have guns or even tasers to protect themselves while on patrol, forcing them to wrest unregistered cabs away from drivers — some of whom are armed.
"The problem is our patch and our status," said a TLC inspector who regularly deals with hostile drivers.
"Many drivers tell me, 'You may think you're a police officer, but you don't have a badge or a gun, so I'm not going to respect you,' " said the source.
"They want us to go out and do cop-like duty, but they don't want to pay us like cops."
A TLC spokesman said the fee increase is actually intended to make life safer for inspectors, many of whom wanted the prices increased as a way of deterring repeat offenders.
"In order to create a greater deterrent effect against unlicensed recidivists, we increased the pre-adjudication settlement structure in order to reduce the pressure on inspectors in the field who have had to deal with these recidivists," he said.
"I would say we are confident that this will have the desired effect and take more recidivists out of the field as many of our inspectors had hoped."
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