Fighting with dishonest Prague taxi drivers has been dragging on for decades. The Prague police officers from the taxi group have been devoted to the issue of taxi services for a long time. They cooperate with hotels, the airport, information centres, and other entities. Now they have caught another dishonest man.
A receptionist from a hotel in Prague 4 informed the operating centre of the city police that a taxi transported a tourist to them and the tourist said that he received a receipt for the amount of 45 Euros, filled in by hand. A patrol of police officers from the taxi group was sent to the place to check the whole incident.
The foreigner told the police officers that on arriving in Prague at the weekend of 12 March 2016, he ordered a taxi car at the airport and was transported to the hotel where he had accommodation arranged. On arrival at the hotel, the taxi driver filled in a receipt for 45 Euros for the foreigner and then asked him to pay a total amount of 60 Euros, stating that the additional 15 Euros was a gratuity.
The police officers also asked the man whether the taximeter was on in the car for the duration of the journey. He answered to them that he did not notice any amount shown on the taximeter. Then he gave them an accurate description of the driver and the vehicle. They found a man corresponding to the description in the airport premises. The vehicle was marked with a yellow roof lamp and a taximeter was placed inside the vehicle.
The police officers called on the man to produce his personal documents and documents for carrying on trade. At the same time they checked the records of transport of persons. He answered yes to the question of whether he transported a foreigner to the hotel in Prague 4. However, what he was unable to explain to the police officers was why he required the extra gratuity and why he did not give the customer a receipt for transport printed from the taximeter.
“Then the forty-two-year-old man told the police officers that he was aware of his fault and was willing to return the full amount of money to the customer and apologize. He also did this subsequently in full view of the police officers and hotel employees. The suspicion of committing another administrative offence was documented and handed over by the police officers to the administrative body for resolving,” stated Irena Seifertová, the spokesperson of the Prague City Police.
“I saw the guest pleasantly surprised to see what result was achieved within the short period of time. He told with enthusiasm how our employees, in cooperation with the city police, professionally approached that unpleasant matter. In the end he gratefully praised Prague for the first-class care of hotels and the police for foreign visitors here, which surprised him,” said Martin Doležal, Accommodation Manager, Holiday Inn Prague Congress Centre.