Drunk Chinese taxi passenger pays US$228 for trip that should have cost US$2.27
‘Slightly drunk’ man made blunder of paying 100 times the usual fare when he used a mobile payment app
A tipsy passenger in eastern China accidentally paid his cab driver 100 times the fare for a ride home last week, according to the local traffic authority.
The man paid his bill via a mobile payment app in Hefei city in Anhui province, and the driver only spotted the mistake an hour later when he was checking his accounts at the end of the shift, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday.
The report said the man had been charged 14.90 yuan (US$2.27) for the journey – but entered a figure of 1,499 yuan when making the payment.
The local traffic bureau is now trying to find the man, who made the blunder when returning home last Thursday.
The driver, who dropped him off about 9pm, described him as being “slightly drunk”. He told his bosses at the Herui Taxi Company about the error after failing to find the man himself.
After two days of trying to find the passenger, the firm contacted the local authorities for help.