Taxi driver dupes tourist with currency ban protest scare

NEW DELHI: 20-year-old German national Kian Glen was hoping to have a good time in India. However, he was duped by a taxi driver and travel agency that led him to believe that there were ‘large-scale protests over demonetisation’.

Glen took a prepaid taxi from the airport to his hotel for `500. What followed was an elaborate plan to fleece the unsuspecting young man. “On my way to the hotel, we came across a road that was barricaded. My driver told me that this was the road that led to the hotel, and it was blocked because there were protests happening all across the city over the demonetisation issue,” said Glen.

Glen had heard of the ban but was unsure of the extent of its impact. “My driver offered to take me to a 24-hour tourist office, the Delhi Tours and Transport Development Company in Gole Market. He said I could figure my steps out as the city was unsafe. The travel agents reiterated the story the driver told me, and even made me speak to someone that they claimed was from the hotel. They told me that all the roads to the hotel were blocked, and they would cancel my reservation as I had no way to get to them,” said Glen.

Glen was then told that the driver would take him out of the city. They arranged a hotel for him in Agra and demanded 1,000 euros. “Thankfully, I was not able to charge my card for more than `30,000. So they agreed I would settle the rest of the amount later,” he said.

What saved Glen was a text from his mother asking about his wellbeing. When he told his mother he was on his way to Agra, she sensed something was wrong and informed her friends in Delhi. The good Samaritans contacted Glen at his hotel in Agra and threatened the driver and hotel authorities with legal action.

“The driver agreed to take me back to Delhi at this point. They travel agency cancelled the invoice, and returned the `30,000,” said Glen.