The United States authorities have found that nearly 36,000 drivers in New York overcharged a staggering 8.3 million dollars on 1.8 million trips through a scam generated by the simple press of a button.

The illegal income came during a 26-month period reviewed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission using new electronic trip data from GPS technology, which taxi drivers fiercely resisted.

The Department of Investigation has taken over the probe, and some cabbies are expected to be referred to prosecutors for criminal charges, the Daily News reports.

Others will be fined and some will lose their licenses, but some will likely remain on the road.

While 35,558 cabbies overcharged their passengers at least once, about 3,000 drivers were repeat offenders, switching their meters to the higher out-of-city rate on trips within city limits more than 100 times each.

The crooked cabbie scheme made headlines several weeks ago when driver Wasim Khalid Cheema was accused of scamming 40,000 dollars from 574 passengers.

The city has about 47,000 licensed medallion cab drivers. (ANI)