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Recently, with many Chinese tourists booking private cars through some Chinese car-renting apps for their visit in Japan, local police raised some concern about the illegal private car rental phenomenon in the country.
An unemployed Chinese man Liu Jiangbo was arrested by Tokyo Police for illegal private car renting on a Chinese car-renting app on Jan.22, earning 130,000 Japanese yen (1,196 US dollars) in total.
During a mass investigation over illegal car renting industry near Tokyo Haneda Airport, Liu, taking five passengers on his private car, was questioned by Tokyo Police. However, Liu snatched his driving license from the police and escaped immediately.
Liu tried to continue his operations by putting the car under the name of a foreigner living in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, but it was discovered by the police soon afterwards.
Tokyo Haneda Airport.
According to the investigation, Liu was suspected of transporting five Singaporean tourists from Tokyo to Kanagawa Prefecture and returning them back during Dec.11 to Dec. 12 last year, earning around 7,500 yuan (1,200 US dollars) or about 2,700 yuan (430 US dollars) cheaper than the official taxi.
Tokyo Police told Kyodo News that Liu picked up tourists from a hotel in Tokyo and took them to Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, visiting several famous tourist spots and sent them back to the Tokyo Haneda Airport. Five tourists booked the car from a Chinese car-renting app before they visited Japan.
The Chinese car-renting app that Chinese tourists often use when they travel overseas.
The phenomenon of Chinese driving illegal private cars is not limited to the area near airport, but also in a lot of famous tourist spots in Japan, as reported by Kyodo News.
According to Tokyo Police, most of the drivers on these car-renting apps were not provided with legal license permit in Japan, in which some security check including physical examination, insurance and alcohol test could not be confirmed. And these illegal private cars may cause negative effect towards the taxi industry in Japan.
Although these online car-renting apps provided convenience for Chinese tourists who planned to travel overseas, there still existed many potential safety hazards on using this.
Chinese Embassy in Japan urged Chinese tourists to not book any illegal private cars and choose taxis that have legal license permits in Japan, according to Beijing Youth Daily.
(CGTN)
