Thứ Sáu, 10 tháng 5, 2013

Hanoi cabbie charges Irish man $23 for 2 km
TUOITRENEWS
 

The telephone number of Thanh Nga Taxi shown on the side of the cab
James Murtagh 
In the latest rip-off case, an Irish man complains that a taxi driver in Hanoi charged him VND480,000 (US$23) for a distance of just 2 kilometers.

James Murtagh told
 Tuoi Tre that he and his wife took a taxi belonging to Thanh Nga Company to a restaurant at 69 Ma May Street in Hoan Kiem District on May 9 night.

When the taxi arrived at the restaurant, 3 km away from their hotel at 195 Hang Bong, the driver asked the couple to pay VND300,000.

According to Murtagh, he handed the driver a 500,000 banknote but the driver gave back only VND20,000 to him. Upon being asked why, the driver replied he received just VND50,000.

This means the driver took VND480,000 from the couple while the maximum taxi fee for such a distance is just VND40,000.

Murtagh then took a photo of the taxi’s number plate as evidence.

Tran Duc Tri, an inspector of Thanh Nga, confirmed with
 Tuoi Tre that the number plate shown in the photo is of a cab of the company.

“We have yet to receive a complaint about the overcharging, but we will verify the matter.”

Do Quoc Binh, chairman of the Hanoi Taxi Association, said he has been informed about the incident by Murtagh through
 the association’s hot line, VnExpress reported.

The association has apologized to the couple for the overcharging and requested that Thanh Nga identify the driver concerned and return the overcharged money.

Binh also said that a few days ago, a driver of Anh Huy Company also forced an Australian to pay him VND280,000 for a 3-km distance, from the Hanoi railway station to the Old Quarter.

Earlier on April 28, a similar case happened to an Australian couple who were charged VND980,000 ($47) by a taxi driver of Trung Viet Taxi Company for a distance of only 7 km, from the Military History Museum to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

The taxi driver was fined VND20 million ($960) and then sacked by his company.

Another similar case, which was more serious, occurred in Ho Chi Minh City on April 12, when a taxi driver charged a Japanese passenger, Atshushi Hirako, VND650,000 ($31.1), ten times higher than the actual fee, and even punched the foreigner in the face when the latter refused to pay.

The driver was later identified as Le Minh Phuong, 35, from the 27/7 Transportation Company.
 

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