Tourists threatened by Bali taxi driver with ‘knife’ in row over fare

Footage of the argument shows women trapped inside vehicle as driver demands money

The driver appears to strike the passengers a number of times (YouTube/4am Club)

A taxi driver in Bali refused to let tourists leave his vehicle and threatened them with a weapon while asking for more money, shocking video footage has revealed.

The three-minute footage clip by one of the visitors to the Indonesian island shows them pleading with the driver to leave the car and asking to speak to police.

While one of the women politely asks the man to “let us out, please” and states that he needs to let them leave, he can be heard repeatedly saying “no”. They claim he didn’t even take them to where they asked to go.

The pair were American tourists and were travelling through Kuta, a popular beach resort in the south of the island, reportsYahoo News. They offered the driver 50,000 Indonesian Rupiah, which is around £2.50, for the fare but he insisted on $50 (£39.29).

One of the tourists threatens to call the police and bangs on the window of the car, at which point the driver appears to strike the women a number of times. He then reaches for something, which the women claim was a knife, and makes a series of throat-cutting gestures.

At this point one of the passengers urges the other to “just give him whatever you have” – though he still demands more.

After unlocking the car doors, the pair flee the vehicle while screaming, flagging down a passerby while still filming. They can be heard telling somebody on the pavement that the “taxi driver just threatened us with a knife.”

The Independent has contacted the Indonesian National Police for further information.

The taxi driver has been arrested and is expected to be charged with “extortion and threat”, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, reports VnExpress.

More than four million tourists visited Bali in 2023, the latest figures from Bali Central Bureau of Statistics show.