PUBLISHED ONJanuary 19, 2024 3:55 AMByBhavya RawatA driver in Guangdong, China, drove off with his passenger's phone after she refused to pay him for returning it.
The driver, surnamed Chen, posted his car's dashcam footage on Douyin, showing his encounter with a passenger who left her phone behind in his car on Jan 5.
She called Chen at around 3am and told him that she left her phone in his car.
He asked the woman pay him "at least 20 yuan (S$3.80)" in return for bringing her phone back, which the woman agreed to.
However, when Chen arrived at the location, the woman refused to make payment and even asked if he was going against the law.
Angered by her behaviour, he drove off to a police station about 18km away and handed the phone over to the police, the South China Morning Post reported.
A trip to that police station would have cost the passenger about 100 yuan, and would take about 26 minutes.
Speaking to the media, Chen said this isn't the first time passengers have left their phones in his car.
He said that he would usually ask the passengers to pay an additional fee if they wanted him to return their phones.
"If they agree to pay, I'll send the phone back to them. If they don't agree, I'll drop the phone off at the nearest police station," said Chen.
"Some passengers think it's our duty to return their phones to them when they leave it in our car, but I don't think it's my duty to do so," he added.
Chen said that he initially wanted to go to a police station further away, but decided against it as the passenger had called the police and he did not want to get into trouble.
The passenger also reportedly filed a complaint with the ride-hailing platform, but Chen said that the company told him he did nothing wrong.
bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com