The Mumbai police recently arrested an autorickshaw driver for allegedly overcharging a 19-year-old man from Sangli who had hired his vehicle at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport upon returning from the United States.
The police said the driver, Ritesh Kadam, 26, picked up the man from the airport and dropped him off in Chembur on December 14, from where the teenager planned to travel to Sangli. As the autorickshaw reached Chembur, its meter allegedly showed a fare of Rs 106. The driver, however, demanded Rs 3,500, as per a complaint filed by the passenger.
When the complainant refused to pay, the driver allegedly called someone who allegedly threatened him over the phone. The complainant said he paid the driver Rs 1,000 in cash and Rs 2,500 through Google Pay. However, he took a photo of the autorickshaw’s registration number plate before leaving.
The passenger then sent an email with the photo to the Mumbai police, resulting in the police registering an offence. The police arrested the accused driver on December 17 after tracking him down using the registration number. The police said the driver confessed to overcharging the teenager who had returned from the US as he needed money and suspected the complainant could be bullied into paying extra.
A police officer said taxi drivers at the Mumbai airport are known to overcharge travellers coming from abroad. “However, in this particular case, the amount charged was excessively inflated, and the threats used made it more akin to extortion than just overcharging,” the officer said.
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