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Moment couple call out taxi driver over $384 cab fare

A young couple travelling through Europe have filmed a taxi driver trying to charge them almost five times the price of a flat fee to travel from the airport.

In a video the Thai couple uploaded to YouTube, they can be seen questioning the taxi driver who is requesting $384 (€247) for the 45km ride from Charles de Gaulle airport to the centre of Paris.

As of 2016 official Paris cabs have a flat fee of $77 to $85 from the airport to anywhere on the right bank or left bank respectively – a law the couple try and explain to their increasingly agitated driver.

They asked to inspect the driver’s phone which shows the price as he reiterates “taxi in Paris is not fixed price – it’s by metre”.

The driver insisted the couple pay him $384 (€247) for the fare. Image: YouTube/Charkrid Th.
The driver insisted the couple pay him $384 (€247) for the fare. Image: YouTube/Charkrid Th.

“I’m not going to police. You pay me, you go to police. What is your problem?” he can be heard telling the couple.

He tells them he works for Chauffeur Prive.

While the company does exist, their website quotes a flat fee of $70 to get to Paris from Charles de Gaulle airport.

As they continue to circle the streets of the French capital, the male passenger filming the exchange is then forced to move further away from the driver when he attempts to snatch the camera away.

“In Paris, it is illegal to film taxi – illegal,” the driver says before screaming once more at the couple to pay him the fee.

After repeated requests to inspect his licence, the couple follow through on their threat to call police, but their attempts to explain their location are flouted as the driver continues to repeatedly change direction.

The driver became increasingly aggressive towards the couple as they questioned the huge taxi fare. Image: YouTube/Charkrid Th.
The driver became increasingly aggressive towards the couple as they questioned the huge taxi fare. Image: YouTube/Charkrid Th.

Fearful for their safety and the chances of getting their luggage from the boot of the car, they offer to pay $155 – an offer the drive labels as “crazy”.

“The doors were locked, and we had all our luggage in the trunk. He did not want to let us out and kept driving while [supposedly] phoning his company to find a compromise,” one of the passengers, Charkrid Thanhachartyothin, told Le Parisien.

“So, we decided to pay €200 (AU $311) to get out.”

The couple left the country before filing a report with police, however, authorities have since been made aware of the footage and are said to be investigating.

They said they wanted the unpleasant experience to be a case study for other “Thai people or travellers to be conscious while they are travelling”.