The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport fined two taxi operators and several taxi drivers on Monday for committing taxi fare scams to overcharge customers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport by up to 10 times the firms’ service prices, following an investigation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

Based on the Tuoi Tre exposé, the department told its road transport management division and inspectors to inspect and handle violators, Vo Khanh Hung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, told the newspaper on Monday.

These forces coordinated with police and security officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to check taxis and impose sanctions on violators. 

In particular, two drivers of taxis with fare inflating devices had their driver’s licenses temporarily revoked and faced a fine of VND700,000 (US$30) each.

Local authorities also told two taxi operators -- Saigontourist Transport Corporation and Sai Gon Transportation Group Corporation -- to suspend the dispatch of taxis to the airport for passenger pick-ups and drop-offs and fined them VND11 million ($468.4) each.

They had earlier checked a taxi carrying the number plate 51F-495.26 whose driver is Nguyen Trung Minh.

The cab belongs to Saigontourist Transport Corporation, which is headquartered at 25 Pasteur Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City and has no relation with major local travel firm Saigontourist Group.

Minh was found to have charged a customer VND1.2 million ($51.1) for a 15.5-kilometer trip, 4.4 times higher than the firm’s service prices.

The inspection team found a device which helps inflate taxi fares in the meter on the cab.

The device helped overcharge customers by up to 10 times the firms’ service prices, said Phan Minh Hai, deputy head of traffic inspection team No. 8, who directly checked the taxi.

When Minh drove the taxi from the police station at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Tran Quoc Hoan Street, which is three kilometers apart, and returned to the airport, as required by the inspection team, the fare was VND53,000 ($2.3). 

The figure hit VND530,000 ($23) when Minh activated the device.

On the same day, the inspection team checked a yellow taxi with the number plate 60E-007.34 controlled by Tran Quoc Tien and found that the meter showed a fare of VND437,000 ($18.6) for a three-kilometer ride.

Pham Ngoc Dung, chief inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, voiced his concerns over the case, saying that many residents and tourists had earlier reported taxi fare scams.

The department inspectorate will propose the department’s leaders revoke the operation licenses of taxi firms whose drivers fleece passengers and request them to impose heavy sanctions on violating drivers.

In such a large city as Ho Chi Minh City, such scams are unacceptable. The case has damaged the image of Ho Chi Minh City taxi services in the eyes of locals and international friends, Dung noted.

Municipal transport inspectors will get prepared to inspect and handle violators in the future.

Many Tuoi Tre readers have also expressed their concerns over taxi fare scams, saying that they were victims of such cons and suggesting strict sanctions for violators.

They also complained about the management of the airport.

D.V.V., a 30-year-old resident in Binh Thanh District, said managers of Tan Son Nhat International Airport must bear responsibility for these scams.

An international airport cannot operate like an unauthorized coach station.

Creating bad impressions for tourists

After the COVID-19 pandemic was kept at bay, up to 40 percent of travelers have chosen to travel independently and opted for vehicles to leave airports themselves.

It will leave a bad impression if they are overcharged by taxi drivers as soon as they reach the city, according to tourism expert Phan Yen Ly.

The bad impression will affect genuine enterprises’ efforts to promote a positive tourist destination during the economic recovery.

Tourists will return to safe and friendly destinations only, so management agencies must take drastic actions to handle those hindering others’ efforts to develop the local tourism, Ly said.

Many taxi operators at Tan Son Nhat International Airport are also concerned as violations of some individuals of small taxi firms may hit the entire sector.

In case of being fleeced, passengers should report it with evidence to taxi operators, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and inspectors of the municipal Department of Transport, said Nguyen Nam Tien, deputy director of the airport.

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