A tourist recently took to social media to detail how he was “robbed” and “kidnapped” by a ‘prebet sapu’ (illegal taxi driver) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
The post has since triggered a massive outcry among netizens, who urged the authorities to clamp down on such drivers who damage Malaysia’s reputation in the eyes of visitors.
Was told ride would be ‘metre rate’
In the post shared to the Facebook group Kuala Lumpur Travel Tips by the tourist named Mitra Ardron, he said that he had touched down at KLIA’s Terminal 2 following a flight from Calcutta, India.
He also added that he had trouble connecting to the Internet on his phone via an eSIM card.
As Mitra exited Terminal 2 to take the shuttle bus to Terminal 1, an individual came up to him and offered a ride. Wary at first, Mitra politely declined, but the individual told him that the shuttle bus and train were yet to open, which might cause Mitra to miss his flight.
The individual also told Mitra that the ride would be “metre rate”, leading Mitra to finally consent and take up on the offer.
Red flags
Mitra wrote that once he got into the car, the driver drove out of the airport and asked whether payment would be made using cash or credit card.
“When I said card, he kept driving until we got to a gas station, which seemed a long way from the airport, where he told me to get the money out of the ATM.
“At this point, I was getting worried because it seemed an awful long way to go from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1. He drove back to Terminal 1 and told me the price was RM450 just to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1.
“This was obviously not the meter rate and he had something on his phone which suggested it was,” he added.
Allegedly held against his will
Mitra said that when he suggested going to the police to confirm the fare amount, the driver allegedly locked him inside the car and refused to let him out until he paid RM450.
In the end, Mitra had no choice but to cough up RM300 as it was the driver’s final offer and he didn’t want to get into further trouble.
A police report was later lodged and Mitra warned others to be careful of illegal taxi drivers and to keep an eye out on the driver that extorted him.
Netizens were unsurprisingly upset by the encounter and called upon Transport Minister Anthony Loke to take stern action against such drivers.
Unfortunately, this issue isn’t new as many have complained of dishonest taxi drivers looking to take advantage of unwitting visitors at the airport:
