Birmingham's biggest taxi firm is investigating claims one of its drivers was caught on camera dumping mattresses in a city street.

The 'disgraceful' footage above captures what appears to be an A2B taxi pulling up on Brockhurst Road, Hodge Hill before a driver dump items on the roadside.

The driver of the car, with the firm's label on its side, is first seen parking up on the quiet street and opening up the boot.

It then shows him dragging a mattress from the back of the car before leaving it on the pavement, propped against a fence.

Another mattress is then pulled from the back of the car and flytipped. Ironically, it appears the female passenger is seen picking up a small piece of rubbish that has rolled out of the car and into the road.

She is filmed walking over to the rubbish bin on the street to discard the litter, despite passing the two large mattresses dumped on the side.

The footage was filmed between 6.55pm - 7.05pm on Tuesday, January 5.

Councillor Majid Mahmood, for Hodge Hill, publicly shamed the individual on Twitter as he branded the act 'disgraceful'.

After the CCTV sparked fury with residents on social media, he wrote: "This is disgraceful, and I will be writing to @A2BRadioCars to see if they can identity the individual who has dumped the two mattresses on Brockhurst Road.

"I will be contacting @BhamCityCouncil waste enforcement to take robust action against the individual(s)."

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/a2b-taxi-probe-cctv-appearing-19580027

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A Paris taxi driver is being investigated after massively overcharging a pair of tourists for a cab ride from the airport to their hotel.

The unnamed driver charged the visitors €230 for the 40-minute drive from Charles de Gaulle airport to the 10th arrondissement, a journey that has a flat rate of €53.

Unlike rogue operators who usually run such a scam, the driver in question provided the tourists from Hong Kong with an official receipt for the fare on 1 January.

They duly reported the driver to French taxi association Les Nouveaux Taxis Parisiens (LNTP).

“This is a real taxi, it's one of ours,” LNTP President Jean Barreira told French newspaper Le Figaro. “This gentleman has cast shame on our profession.”

Barreira confirmed that LNTP had reported the driver to police, who are now investigating the incident. 

It’s not the first time a Parisian taxi driver has charged tourists through the nose.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/france-taxi-driver-charge-scam-b1783727.html

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In crisis-hit Venezuela, even soldiers are struggling to make ends meet on meager salaries rendered practically worthless by the highest inflation in the world and have taken to moonlighting -- as taxi drivers.

Some have taken to sneaking out of their barracks to pick up customers needing a lift -- a job that can earn them 60 times their monthly salary with just one trip.

"I'm a father and given the situation in the country, my salary is worth nothing," a 39-year-old sergeant told AFP under the condition of anonymity.

"I do my taxi journeys and I earn much more than in my other job -- that's why I do it," he added.

The sergeant can earn more than $500 for driving passengers from San Cristobal on the border with Colombia to the capital Caracas, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) to the northeast.

His monthly wage as a soldier -- nine million bolivars -- is worth just eight dollars.

However, regular taxi drivers are furious and say members of the armed forces have an unfair advantage: their uniform.

"They don't get stopped at police checkpoints" where drivers are often asked for a bribe, and "they don't have problems getting fuel," complained Eusebio Correa, a 57-year-old career taxi driver.

"The military that should be providing security are now chauffeurs in uniform."

Sourcing fuel for vehicles is a major issue in Venezuela, but especially in remote Tachira state and its capital San Cristobal.

Fuel shortages have led to people waiting at gas stations for days at a time to fill their tanks, or alternatively turning to the black market, where prices are considerably higher.

That added cost has subsequently pushed up the price of taxi rides.

But since the military controls gas stations, soldiers don't face the same restrictions the general population does.

"This uniform that I wear represents respect. With the uniform, I can come and go anywhere," admitted the sergeant.

The salaries of the rank and file may have plummeted alongside everyone else's earnings in a country that has been in recession for seven years, but the military as an institution remains powerful.

It is the main power propping up the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The military also controls oil, mining and food distribution companies, as well as customs and several key ministries.

Venezuela's opposition and some rights organizations claim many top military officials have gotten rich through corruption.

The taxi-driving sergeant said he started "escaping" his barracks to moonlight once the country was put under a coronavirus lockdown.

"For the release permits, sometimes I ask for medical leave. You even make up stuff to your own colleagues. I know many who do this job, right up to our superiors," said the sergeant.

Under the lockdown, regular comings and goings were restricted -- and only authorized via passes issued by the military.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210108-venezuela-s-new-taxi-drivers-moonlighting-soldiers

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