Police are looking for a taxi driver who allegedly tried to charge a tourist an exorbitant fare for a ride from Kowloon to Lantau Island on Friday.
That evening, the 38-year-old tourist from Slovenia, who was staying in Regal Kowloon Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, took a taxi to Inspiration Lake near Hong Kong Disneyland, Oriental Daily reported. When he arrived, the taxi driver told him the fare was HK$1,700 (US$217).
Including a HK$30 toll charge, the total fare should not have been much over HK$170. Suspecting that the fare was much too high, the tourist refused to pay and took another cab back to town. He decided to report the case to the police when he got back to his hotel.
Police classified the case as a traffic complaint as the tourist did not suffer any actual monetary loss, Apple Daily reported.
There were about 200 cases on overcharging by taxi drivers over the past three years, police figures showed.
In 2015, a cabbie charged a 22-year-old tourist from Switzerland HK$8,000 for a ride from Hong Kong International Airport to Hung Hom in Kowloon. By comparison, the fare from the airport to Tsim Sha Tsui would be only around HK$270.
Tourists can get an idea of appropriate cab fares from the airport website.
That’s a lot of wonga for a taxi ride
i think the driver doesn’t know how to say the right amount in english it always happen well nobodys perfect just sayin…