A black-hearted cabbie was fired from his company and detained for questioning by police for charging a Swiss visitor 1,480 yuan (US$191) for a 39-kilometer journey in Shanghai on Wednesday, local media reported Thursday.

 

The Swiss man, named Christoph Johamnes, arrived at Pudong International Airport at 7:20 AM on Wednesday. When he tried to call a taxi to Yalong Hotel on Jujiaqiao Road in Pudong New Area, two men guided him to a parking lot and offered to take him in a navy-blue taxi, whose license plate number is EV0146.

 

Upon reaching the hotel, the cabbie charged him 1,480 yuan, telling him 280 yuan was tax and offered him a fake handwritten invoice.

 

Johamnes told the hotel staff the story and they informed him he was overcharged 10 times. The fare for 39 kilometers should be around 120 yuan.

 

They then reported it to the Traffic Law Enforcement Team, who traced the plate number and found the cabbie within four hours. Police at Pudong International Airport have detained him.

 

The cabbie's image was also recorded by the hotel's security camera.

 

The cabbie, who worked for Haibo Taxi Company, confessed to overcharging the man after seeing the video surveillance.

 

Officials of Haibo apologized to Johamnes and returned him the fare with compensation totaling 4,110 yuan according to their company rules, which compensates twice the amount of the overcharge.

 

(Shanghai Daily March 2, 2007)