Ho Chi Minh City plans to print traffic police’s hotline numbers on taxi cabs as a measure to protect clients from price scams and other fraud.
Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of the People's Committee, the municipal administration, said at a recent meeting that taxi firms have to print the numbers on their vehicles so that travelers can call for help when needed, a VnExpress website report said Wednesday.
She also asked the city police to widely publicize their hotline numbers on local media.
Meanwhile, the city Transport Department has been asked to work in closer cooperation with the city police and HCMC Taxi Association to stop the operation of fake taxis imitating reputed firms to lure and cheat customers.
The order comes after many victims of taxi scams have told the media their stories.
The latest reported happened on early March 30, when a Japanese woman was charged more than five times the meter’s fare for a trip from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to District 1, before having her luggage stolen by the driver.
The VnExpress report cited another case that happened last year, when a driver tampered with his meter to turn the seven-kilometer journey into a 400 kilometer one to charge a foreign female customer VND4 million ($192).