Tourists detained for filming overcharging taxi driver

A family was stranded in a police station on Monday after they filmed the plate number of a local taxi driver who was allegedly overcharging them.

In the Facebook group of International Ladies Club of Macau, a member, who is a friend of the family, explained that the driver was charging them MOP100 for the ride from The Venetian to Wynn Palace.

Dissatisfied with the fee, the woman took a video of the taxi’s plate number and their conversation.

The taxi driver, who thought he was captured in the video, then reported the incident to the police.

Since the family does not speak the local language, the police took them to a police station in Taipa following the taxi driver’s accusations.

The family, who resides in Hong Kong, was detained in the station for nearly six hours.

Yesterday, the family friend commented on her Facebook post, stating that the taxi driver had made false allegations.

“After all it was false allegations the taxi driver made, [because] after the lawyer came and checked the phone, there [was] no video of the taxi driver’s face, only the plate number and conversation they had,” she posted.

According to her, a police officer asked the family whether they wanted to charge the taxi driver for making a false accusation, which the family declined.

The Times contacted the couple, however they refused to disclose any information regarding the incident, as advised by their lawyer.

According to the husband, who is a British national, his Filipina wife is still under investigation by local authorities and considered a possible suspect.

“As much as we’re still upset and irritated, […] we can’t talk about what happened in the police station,” the husband lamented.

Meanwhile, the Facebook post drew support for the family, and netizens also criticized rogue taxi drivers, stating the incident was terrible and awful.

“This story should be taken to papers to expose how ridiculous a system this is and hopefully something can be done about rogue taxi drivers,” said one.

“Macau’s Tourism!” said another.

A netizen even slammed police authorities, stating: “I think it’s not just the taxi driver here. The police take action way too quick without looking at all the evidence.” LV