A driver from the Da Nang-based Hai Van Taxi Company has been fired after a group of South Korean passengers reported being overcharged for a short trip in the city on Wednesday.

At midnight on that day, the foreign passengers took the taxi from the Da Nang International Airport to An Thuong No 7 Street in Son Tra District, a distance of only 5.1 kilometers. 

However, the South Korean passenger group was asked to pay 700,000 VND (30.83US$) for the ride, although they argued that the taxi-meter did not work correctly.

The tourists were frustrated, and told a local woman who shared their complaint on a Facebook group, the most popular social network in Viet Nam.

Having received a report on the overcharging, representatives from the municipal Department of Transport and other relevant local agencies jointly held a meeting to conduct an investigation into the case.

The investigation showed that, based on the taxi-meter, the actual fare for the ride was only 78,000 VND (3.43US$).

On Thursday, representatives from relevant local agencies and the leaders of the Hai Van Taxi Company directly met with the foreign passengers to apologise to them for the overcharging, as well as to return the overcharged amount to them. 

In particular, the overcharged passengers’ rides during the rest of their stay in the city are being covered by this transport company. 

The municipal Department of Transport also urged local taxi companies to take stronger measures to ensure that such incident blighting the city’s image s never happens in the city again.  

Even stricter punishment will be imposed on any taxi driver found overcharging passengers in the coming time.