Recently, an article reflecting a motorbike taxi driver "overcharging" a US tourist one million VND for a 7-kilometer road section caused a stir on social networks.
Immediately after receiving the report, Hoan Kiem Ward Police (Hanoi) intervened, summoned the motorbike taxi driver involved in the incident to investigate and return one million VND to the female tourist.
Previously, according to content shared on social networks, at about 5:05 pm on February 24, a female tourist took a traditional motorbike taxi in the area of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (Nguyen Van Huyen street, Nghia Do ward) to move to a restaurant on Trang Tien street (Hoan Kiem ward).
However, during the movement, the driver did not go straight to the agreed point but arbitrarily drove passengers through some other locations such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area and the "railway coffee street" in Kham Thien to take photos.
At about 5:50 PM, when stopping at No. 66 Trang Tien, the driver signaled to ask the female tourist to pay 1 million VND. Due to language barriers and wanting to avoid trouble, the female tourist agreed to pay this amount.
On the same evening, the female tourist and a Vietnamese friend came to Hoan Kiem Ward Police to report the incident. Immediately after receiving the information, functional forces proceeded to verify.
On February 25, Hoan Kiem Ward Police said that they had summoned the related motorbike taxi driver, Mr. P.V. L. (born in 1964, residing in Nghia Do ward) to the headquarters to work.
At the police station, Mr. P.V. L. admitted to collecting money higher than the normal level. Initially, functional agencies determined that there were no signs of extortion or touting, but the act of collecting overpriced money had a negative impact on the image of the Capital's tourism.
Hoan Kiem Ward Police returned one million VND to the female tourist, and are consolidating the file for handling according to regulations.
Unit leaders said they will strengthen inspection and strictly handle "overcharging" acts, ensuring a safe and friendly tourism environment for domestic and international tourists.
