Two cabbies were nabbed by the authorities after tampering taxi meters and overcharging passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminals 1 and 2.
One of the taxi drivers was caught using a ‘batingting’, an instrument attached to the meter to jack up fare.
Officials of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) noticed the driver was covering the instrument attached to the meter when he refused to leave his taxi during an inspection at the airport, reported ABS-CBN.
Meanwhile, another driver is facing charges for overcharging a passenger. The driver was involved in a video posted by Chinese-American food vlogger Mikey Chen who the driver asked to pay Php 2,300 for his ride from NAIA Terminal 3 to NAIA Terminal 4.
“I knew this was going to happen. We went to Terminal 3 for some reason by mistake and we’re going to Terminal 4, and they’re charging us P2,300 to go to one terminal,” Chen said.
“[According to taxi driver] going to any hotel in Metro Manila is P2,300. [S]o this guy is ripping us off here,” Chen added.
The video showed the vlogger showing a card containing the rates from one destination to another.
Officials of the Manila International Airport Authority were able to locate the driver through clues from the video posted.
The driver said that he only tried if the passengers will accept the offer, and that it was the first time he did such act in his six years as a cabbie.
The driver will face charges for contracting and operating a colorum vehicle.
Both taxis will be impounded for three months while their operators will asked to pay a fine of Php 120,000.
Both drivers are also in danger of being blacklisted in the airport.
