in Paris, fraudsters take taxis to bypass the curfew

Many Parisians use VTCs or taxis to bypass the 6pm curfew, hoping not to get checked.

“Out of ten passengers, two of them ask me if we are being checked a lot.” Since the introduction of the curfew at 6 p.m. in Paris, many users have taken advantage of VTCs or taxis to bypass controls and avoid being fined after legal time.

“Passengers often lie to us. They tell us it’s for a driving trip, they don’t tell us they are going to a birthday or a party but that they are going to see someone who is not well.” , entrusted this VTC driver to BFM Paris.

“We are not police officers, we do our job, we bring them from point A to point B,” he adds. “It’s not our job to spy on people,” adds Rémi, a taxi driver. Drivers who are in the exercise of their work do not risk fines. In case of control, only customers can be fined.

“They are not immune”

Impossible to know with precision the number of Parisians using VTC or taxis to bypass the curfew, but according to Geoffrey Le Bon, police commissioner, they are “not safe”.

“If they think it will be useful to them, it will undoubtedly be to their detriment because they risk being checked as if they were in their own vehicle”, he summarizes at the microphone of BFM Paris.

In an attempt to apprehend the fraudsters, a certificate control operation was organized this Friday, as every week, on the Champs-Elysées. Emmanuel, a passenger in a taxi, was checked. “I am a business owner, I am going home. I have no schedules, so no worries,” he explains.

In the event of an inspection and in the absence of a travel certificate, a fine of 135 euros may be issued.

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