It would be unfair to say that nothing in the taxi industry has changed over the years. The owners of white taxis have invested heavily and we no longer see drivers with their shirts open asleep on ripped seats as they wait for their next customer.

There are also numerous companies that set up private minicab services (which must be booked) which have ensured competition in some important sectors. There has been progress too on unlicensed taxis that used to compete unfairly at particular destinations.

But the one thing that has defied solution is overcharging, which can be the very first (negative) thing a tourist experiences when he or she lands on our shores. The problem comes down to basic human nature: taxi drivers still prefer to do one trip and earn €20 than two trips for €10 each.

This also explains why meters, ubiquitous abroad, might not be the best solution for Malta. An employed taxi-driver has little to gain from taking the slowest or longest route. A self-employed driver/owner using a meter clearly does.

So there are two aspects to consider: That meters might not be the solution – but that if we do impose meters, then they should be installed in all the 300 taxis (and not just 166 of them), that they must be used for each and every trip and that there is zero tolerance for abuse, with ways to ensure that complaints can be dealt with while tourists are still in Malta, and strict disciplinary action taken.

Clearly, all of this has failed. The Sunday Times of Malta reported that only four drivers were fined this year for not using meters. They were asking for “excessive” upfront fees at taxi ranks.

A casual stroll past the new rank at Castille raised eyebrows too: tourists asking for directions to the bus terminus were told there is a two-hour wait and that each trip lasts for hours.

If nothing has worked over all these years and attempts to tweak the status quo get nowhere, isn’t it time for us to think out of the box?

Point-to-point charges, such as those used by black cabs, from some hotels and from the airport (another success story) make sense in the local context where the majority of trips fall into a limited number of routes.

They can be easily put up at taxi-stands. An informed customer is an empowered customer. Would these make more sense than meters?

And why do white taxis still enjoy a monopoly at taxi ranks? Because no one has the guts to stand up to them is simply not acceptable as an answer, no matter what the reaction from them would be.

There is a strong argument for allowing black taxis to have their own stands and letting competition rule. For tourists to decide whether they prefer to pay a fixed rate, rather than be held captive by a rogue taxi-driver (of course, not all taxi drivers are rogues) and be charged arbitrarily depending on how much the driver has earned that day, what the prospects are of more work, how hot it is, and how affluent the tourists look.

If we were put off by threats and and the prospect of having to arm-wrestle, we would never have solved the seemingly intractable problem of the debt-ridden Drydocks.

That is the spirit that we need to see from this legislature: someone who will look white-taxi drivers in the eye and not blink.