Friday January 1, a taxi driver invoiced 230 euros to two Hong Kong tourists for a trip between Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport and their hotel located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.
The association Les New taxis parisiens (LNTP), questioned by the victims of this scam, wishes to file a complaint against the driver.
Read also: These various scams that are costly to public finances
The price to pay was almost four times the going rate of 53 euros.
The tourists had sensed the scam, but still paid the requested amount.
Quickly, they challenged the LNTP taxi association via a notice left on the organization's Facebook page.
The association was quick to disseminate the story on its social networks, strongly condemning this practice: "
our profession suffers the full brunt of the behavior of certain unscrupulous" professionals ".
Whether they are real taxis, fake taxis, real or fake VTC.
It is time to put an end to this behavior!
Can we read on their Facebook post.
On Twitter, the LNTP mentioned the Paris police headquarters.
The association, founded in 2014 and which represents 18,524 Parisian taxis, said it was ready to file a complaint, because this incident damaged the image of its professionals: “If
it had been a VTC, we would not have wished to file a complaint.
But this is a real taxi, it is one of us.
This gentleman has cast shame on our profession!
», Protested Jean Barreira, president of LNTP.
An initiative that will not be followed by customers, who have since returned to Hong Kong, "because
they are afraid of reprisals,
" says the president.
However, the investigation carried out by the police headquarters to find the driver is underway, confirms Jean Barreira.
The New Parisian taxis hope that measures will be taken against the individual to prevent any recurrence: "
It is quite possible that his professional card is withdrawn, or that he is prohibited from approaching a station or an airport
”, points out Jean Barreira.
The objective is above all "
to protect our future customers
" he continues.
Read also: Roissy-Paris for 247 euros: the rogue taxi receives 8 months in prison
But this case is far from isolated, according to the president of the association: “
We have received a lot of reports of scams following this.
And we know that solicitations around Parisian train stations and airports are frequent,
”explains Jean Barreira to
Le Figaro
.
Ultimately
, the association calls for more checks from the state to put an end to these scams.
“
There are things in place to direct customers to professionals in passenger transport, but that is not enough,
” he concludes.