The decision was given at an urgent meeting held between the airport authorities, agencies and representatives from Saigon Tourist Transport Corporation and Saigon Taxi Transportation Group Corporation to address the issue on June 21.
Speaking at the meeting, the deputy director of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Nguyen Nam Tien, said that they would ban the two companies from operating in the airport from June 22 until further notice to further investigate their violations.
"The violations have badly affected the image and prestige of the airport," Tien said.
Earlier in an inspection carried out on June 19 by the transport department, two taxi drivers from the companies were found with an installed device that fixed the meter to cheat customers.
The inspectors found that a taxi vehicle from Saigon Tourist Transport Corporation had two auxiliary switches installed under the gear stick. The driver Nguyen Trung Minh was asked to run from the airport’s international terminal to Tran Quoc Hoan Street and back. The two-kilometre trip should have produced a VND54,000 fare, but when the driver activated the fixed meter, it resulted in a 10-fold increase to VND540,000.
Checking another taxi operated by the Saigon Taxi Transportation Group Corporation, inspectors also discovered the same fraudulent meter. The driver enabled the cheating each time they shifted gear, triggering a VND 3,000 increase.
The driver was also asked to run from the airport’s international terminal to Tran Quoc Hoan Street and back, which produced a VND420,000 fare.
The two drivers were given a fine of VND 11.70 million and were banned from offering taxi services for two months.
The Saigontourist Transport Corporation, which is headquartered at 25 Pasteur Street in District 1, has no relation with major local travel firm Saigontourist Group.
