An allegation that Ariela Navarro-Fenoy was refused rides by cabbies — who her friend claims found her estimated $8 fare too low — before getting shot and killed outside Muzik nightclub last week has led to a storm of critics speaking out against the seemingly common practice.

Passengers, drivers, cab companies and city officials alike have questioned why some drivers reject certain passengers while taking others.

Sajid Mughal, president of the iTaxiworkers Association, told the Star Navarro-Fenoy’s death “should not have happened.” The association recommended that the city introduce steeper penalties for drivers who turn down short fares, he said.

In interviews with the Star, the city’s director of bylaw enforcement, John DeCourcy, called the practice “despicable,” while Beck Taxi’s operations manager, Kristine Hubbard — even prior to the shooting — had referred to fare refusals as an “epidemic” in the taxi industry and one of “the most frustrating things” the company deals with.

In the midst of the controversy, the Star decided to put taxis in the Entertainment District to the test. To look at the ease with which one can hail a cab in downtown Toronto, a quick experiment was conducted Saturday night.

Six short ride requests were made, with three around 11 p.m. and another three after 2 a.m. Each driver accepted the fares, with no questions asked.

We attempted to use the services of different Toronto taxi companies and to pick a variety of destinations in the area, while keeping the trips short and fares low.

The experiment doesn’t take into account, however, the level of activity happening downtown on that particular night, drivers who refuse fares for reasons other than the amount, how habits may be changing in the aftermath of the fatal shooting at the OVO Fest after-party, as well as many other possible factors.

The trips:

A Royal taxi from Royal Alexandra Theatre to King St. W./Spadina Ave. at 11:06 p.m. ($9)

A Beck taxi from King St. W./Spadina Ave. to Cake Nightclub at Simcoe St./Adelaide St. W. at 11:14 p.m. ($6.50)

A Crown taxi from Cake Nightclub to Tryst at King St. W./Peter St. at 11:29 p.m. ($7.25)

A Beck taxi from Foggy Dew Irish Pub at King St. W./Niagara St. to Bar244 at Duncan St./Adelaide St. W. at 2:16 a.m. ($10.50)

A Beck taxi from Bar244 to Brassai at King St. W./Spadina Ave. at 2:26 a.m. ($8)

An Ambassador taxi from Brassai to Cabin Five at Duncan St./Richmond St. W. at 2:46 a.m. ($7.50)

According to friends of Navarro-Fenoy, she and two others had tried repeatedly to get a cab to get out of the area when chaos ensued, but were refused because their fare would have amounted to about $8.

When they started walking towards their friend’s car, shots were fired again, and Navarro-Fenoy’s friends say they turned around to find her on the ground, wounded.

"Had we gotten in a cab, this wouldn't have happened," friend Franca Abate told the Star in an interview. "We could have gotten home safely."

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Turning down a fare is an illegal practice and is the third most common type of complaint the city received about taxis between 2010 and 2015.

However, drivers do have the right, according to Chapter 545 of the Toronto Municipal Code, to refuse a fare if a passenger owes them a payment for a previous trip, doesn’t reveal their final destination, asks to be driven to a remote area the driver believes is unsafe, is obnoxious or abusive, smokes in the cab, or refuses to pay an estimated fare of up to $25 in advance of the ride.

An illegal fare refusal can land the driver with a $200 fine on a first offence and up to $5,000 in fines for repeated offences.

Out of 5,888 public complaints received over the past five years, 760 were related to ride refusals.