4 Hong Kong taxi drivers have been arrested for overcharging passengers within the Lan Kwai Fong leisure hub over Halloween weekend by police wearing full costume, together with one in a masks and pink jumpsuit from the Netflix collection Squid Sport, the Submit has discovered.
The undercover officer who dressed as a guard from the favored South Korean drama was charged HK$100 (S$17.30) for a visit that ought to have value nearer to HK$50.
He made the arrest after the taxi driver accepted the cash on the finish of their journey from Central to Joyful Valley.
The cabby was amongst 4 arrested in undercover operations focusing on unscrupulous taxi drivers within the Lan Kwai Fong space between Friday and Monday.
A police supply mentioned the officers, one other of whom was dressed as a vampire, focused cabbies who lined their meters whereas soliciting passengers.
“The 4 drivers have been detained for overcharging and failing to activate the meter,” he mentioned, including three had additionally been arrested for failing to show their driver identification plates on the dashboard, an try and keep away from passenger’s submitting complaints.
On the primary day of the operation, police arrested a 64-year-old taxi driver who charged two undercover officers HK$200 for a HK$120 taxi journey from Central to Siu Sai Wan.
It was the tenth time the person had been arrested for overcharging, the supply mentioned.
All 4 drivers have been granted police bail pending additional investigation and are required to report back to police later this month. The drive additionally impounded the 4 taxis to test if the autos had been illegally modified.
“Police will proceed to strengthen their enforcement actions towards associated crimes,” the drive mentioned in a press release.
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In Hong Kong, overcharging or refusing to take fares — a constant characteristic of Hong Kong’s hottest late-night areas — is punishable by as much as six months in jail and a HK$10,000 tremendous.
The Transport Complaints Unit acquired 5,355 complaints towards taxi drivers final 12 months, down 48 per cent from 10,318 the 12 months earlier than, although early restaurant closures and the shuttering of bars amid the coronavirus pandemic left considerably fewer potential passengers on the road.
Final 12 months’s figures present there have been 658 complaints about overcharging, whereas refusing rent accounted for 762 complaints.
Others included failure to take essentially the most direct route, improper driving behaviour, soliciting passengers and failure to show driver identification plates.
This text was first revealed in South China Morning Post.
