Bored Chinese schoolboys convince Didi driver to take them on 1,400km journey with less than US$30 in cash to pay him
Ride-hailing app had assured driver the journey was in order but had to step in after a row over who would settle the US$980 bill
Two teenage boys managed to fool an unwitting taxi driver into driving them 1,400km (870 miles) with only 200 yuan (US$29) cash in hand, promising the driver that they would pay him at the end of the journey, according to media reports.
The 13-year-old classmates from the southern city of Shenzhen hailed the cab last Saturday using one parent’s Didi Chuxing ride-hailing account after deciding they wanted “to travel” because they were bored during the summer holidays, Jiangsu Television News reported on Thursday.
The fare eventually came to 6,700 yuan (US$980) for the 20-hour overnight journey to the southwestern city of Chongqing.
Upon arrival, the youths – surnamed Peng and Fang – told the driver they only had 200 yuan on them, but one of them said he had an aunt in the city who would pay. But when the boys contacted her she refused to come to meet them or pick up the bill.
The boys then contacted their parents and one of the families then decided to contact the police.
The driver then drove them to a local police station.
The pair are below the age of criminal responsibility, which is 14 on mainland China, but the report did not explain what had happened to them after that.
