Mayor calls for legislation after London rickshaw driver charges family £206 for one-mile journey (+ video)

Boris Johnson is to lobby the government for the power to regulate rickshaw drivers, also known as pedicabs, after video footage emerged of one driver charging a family £206 for a one-mile journey.

The shocking footage shows the rickshaw driver being questioned by a number of people, including by a pair of police officers. “You’re blatantly ripping them off,” says one.

At one point a police officer says that the driver is extorting tourists. However, there are currently no regulations for rickshaw rides and drivers can charge any fare they want, provided it is verbally agreed before the journey. The driver simply points to his price list and says that he charges £10 a minute.

The man who shot the footage, Richard Long, has been a licensed cabbie for 16 years. He told the London Evening Standard that he would have charged about £7 for the journey.

"When I got out of the cab I could see he was trying to get more and more money. The woman wasn't great with English. They know tourists don't use cards and generally carry cash. Obviously they've spoken to each other and decided certain groups are an easy target."

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said such situations were nothing new.

"Our members are constantly reporting that passengers, especially from the Middle East, complain to them about being ripped off by rickshaw riders, and being threatened when they challenge the extortionate prices.

"Fares of between £200 and £300 from Selfridges to Harrods are common and the current record stands at £820."

Transport for London (TfL) don’t currently have a legal power to regulate pedicabs. A spokesman for the Mayor's office said that Johnson is concerned about the trade and is lobbying the government for new legislation. "This video only adds weight to his determination to make that happen. It is shocking and utterly disgraceful that pedicab drivers appear to be taking advantage of customers in this way."

Friedel Schroder, chairman of the London Pedicabs Operators Association (LPOA), told the BBC that the driver did not belong to his organisation and added that he had been warning the authorities of such practices for more than 15 years.