Sahar Police has initiated action against taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers accused of defrauding passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai. Over the past two months, 80 FIRs have been registered in connection with cases of extortion and cheating involving drivers who allegedly charged foreign passengers exorbitant fares.
Police have registered cases against 13 taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers so far, with six arrests made. Authorities have also seized 13 taxis and cancelled the licences of several drivers.
The crackdown followed complaints from passengers who said drivers demanded higher fares midway through their journeys and resorted to threats and intimidation when they refused to pay.
In one incident on March 2, a 28-year-old businessman who had arrived from Bhubaneswar at around 1.30 am was allegedly cheated by a rickshaw driver. The driver initially agreed to take him to Seven Hills Hospital by meter after speaking with a security guard, but later demanded INR 500 and threatened to kill the passenger if he refused to pay. Following a complaint, the driver, identified as Prakash Shetty (42), was arrested and his licence cancelled.
Earlier, on February 25, a woman police officer posed as a passenger to travel to Colaba. The taxi driver demanded INR 1,700 for the trip and allegedly threatened ASI Smita Pednekar after she entered the vehicle, warning that if they raised their voices they would be forced to pay an additional INR 350. The driver, Vaibhav Bhosale (34), was later arrested.
Meanwhile, in January, a similar case went viral on social media after a taxi driver reportedly charged a foreign passenger INR 18,000 for travelling just 400 metres. Police say the ongoing crackdown aims to curb such arbitrary and exploitative practices by taxi and rickshaw drivers.
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