Police in Hanoi have fined three cabbies VND2 million (US$88) each for urinating in public.

Officers from the police station in Hoang Mai District affirmed on Monday that they had imposed the pecuniary penalty on the three drivers, who had been found peeing in public places.

The three offenders have been only known as P.V.X., 37, P.V.D., 29, and N.P.L., 27.

The three were caught passing water on the sidewalk of Tran Thu Do Street in Hoang Mai District on Friday morning.

Undercover officers spotted their urination and filmed it with their cameras in order to fine them later.

The offense was later reported to competent agencies, before the three cabbies were escorted to the police station.

They admitted their wrongful behavior after seeing the footage shot by police officers.

Police in the Vietnamese capital have carried out regular inspections to deal with those who litter and urinate in public areas, as part of the municipal Party Committee’s effort to burnish the city’s public image this year.

Repeat offenders will face a sterner fine and be forced to do community work to preserve public hygiene, online newspaper Dan Tri quoted Colonel Nguyen Hong Thai, chief of the police station in Hoang Mai District, as saying.