from India
WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from Hong Kong
GOAN TAXI DRIVERS FORCE 100 USA TOURISTS BACK ONTO CRUISE SHIP
A group of US tourists were forced to return to their cruise ship after a group of taxi operators picketed the port’s gate and stopped the buses they were travelling in. Goa chief minister, Pramod Sawant, and tourism minister, Rohan Khaunte, have condemned the incident and the state police has said that they are conducting an inquiry into the incident. The American tourists, had alighted from the luxury cruise liner Ocean Odyssey during its port of call at Goa in mid December. The Goa police said that eight members of a local taxi union have been booked and two people have been arrested in connection with the incident and an investigation is in progress. “The coaches were stopped by the taxi drivers and their union leaders and they were not allowing us to get the coaches inside. The guests had walked for one kilometre from the ship to the coaches (buses) and the taxi drivers picketed the coach and they didn’t allow the guest to get into the coaches”, said Francis Vaz, manager of Le Passage to India tour operator who was handling the group of more than 100 American tourists. Vaz said attempts to negotiate with the taxi unions failed despite the intervention by the police. “We had to refund the money to the guests plus compensation claims for all this,” he added. “A common complaint from the taxi operators is that we are taking away their business. A client who has booked with the tour operator will never take a taxi. We as a tour operator give a comprehensive tour package,” another operator said, adding that operators arrange for language speaking guides, culinary preferences and theme-based tours, something tourist taxis will not be able to cater to. The Goa Police added: “It appears there was some miscommunication between the taxi operators and the tour operators. If they had been told in advance, this would not have arisen. Goa police will not tolerate the harassment of any tourists. Goa is a tourist friendly state and that image needs to be maintained. We will ensure that Goa is safe for tourists at all times.”.
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HONG KONG TAXI DRIVER SAVES 81-YEAR-OLD FROM PHONE SCAM
A Hong Kong taxi driver who overheard a conversation bet- ween his two pas- sengers about their plan to cheat an 81- year-old woman has helped foil a scam attempt, leading to the pair’s arrest in the latest of a string of “guess-who-I-am” phone scam cases. Police said the driver, 39, learned of the ruse through a conversation he heard between the two suspects while taking them to a bus stop in early December. After the two men left the taxi, the elderly victim arrived and handed over HK$7,000 (£1,000. The driver, who remained at the location, witnessed the transaction, called police and followed the pair in his vehicle as they walked away, before officers arrived and arrested the two suspects. Acting Chief Inspector, Lo Yip-wai of Sau Mau Ping Police Station, said the two men were detained on suspicion of obtaining property by deception – an offence punishable by up to ten years in jail under the Theft Ordinance. He said that the money had been recovered. The elderly woman had received a call from another man who had impersonated her relative. “The caller claimed he was her grandson, saying he had been arrested by police and needed bail money for his release,” Lo said. The woman was instructed to go to the bus stop to hand over the money.
The
investigation showed the two suspects were members of a triad-controlled fraud syndicate. Lo said the investigation suggested triad gangs were behind some of the latest phone scams, which had become a new source of income for the groups. “Guess-who-I-am” scams usually involve swindlers pretending to be a relative of a victim or a friend in urgent need of money. Scammers will contact victims by phone and ask them to guess their identity. Once the target mentions a name, the tricksters then pretend to be that person and come up with a plea for money.
JANUARY 2023 PHTM
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