Cabbies ask passengers for change of Rs 1,000. Once they are handed two Rs 500 notes, they switch them with Rs 100 notesThe railway police on Monday arrested two cabbies who fleeced Marathi actor Pradeep Kabare’s elderly parents outside Dadar station after pleading them for change of Rs 1,000 — a con that for many has become synonymous with taxi travel in Mumbai.The two men are members of the ‘blue light gang’, which swipes cash from trusting passengers in a clever ruse that involves persuasion and a little sleight of hand. The group usually approaches out-oftowners or frazzled passengers outside Dadar station early in the morning and late at night, offering to arrange a black-and-yellow.Once the person boards the taxi, the driver turns on a blue light in the car and within moments, another gang member pretending to be a commuter begs the passenger for change for a Rs 1,000 note.Once you hand over two Rs 500 notes, the driver will switch them with two Rs 100 notes and request you to pay Rs 800 more. If you protest, fellow taxi drivers will quickly huddle around you and coax or coerce you into believing that you have not tendered exact change.Pradeep’s parents, Radhakrishna (85) and Vijaya Kabare (83), arrived at Dadar station from Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district early on August 20. A man identified as Sodilal Ananda offered them help to find a taxi and carried their luggage from platform number 6. He directed them to a cab with a blue cabin light.The 35-year-old driver, Tarun Tilak Raj Kohli, first took an advance of Rs 500 from the elderly couple and after driving for just 150 metres, he asked them if they could change a Rs 1,000 note. They handed him two Rs 500 notes, but Kohli accused them of shortchanging him.When the Kabares, who were certain that they had given the right amount of money, rejected his claim, he tossed their bags out and asked them to step out. He then drove off.While such rackets are not new, the blue light gang has gained considerable notoriety outside Dadar station. Online complaint forums are full of accounts by upset passengers who were deceived by the group, which comprises 40 to 50 cabbies.In the past month alone, 15 taxi drivers have been booked for “creating nuisance” at Dadar station, according to senior GRP inspector Nitin Bobade. The offence, registered under the Maharashtra Police Act, broadly covers instances in which suspected fraudsters try to pressure passengers waiting at platforms to hire a particular blackand-yellow.“It’s appalling. Such cheating drivers should be arrested,” Pradeep said.Kohli and Ananda were arrested on Monday and the GRP is now searching for a third suspect. “On July 28, we had arrested a taxi driver who had fleeced a passenger in a similar fashion,” Bobade said. While authorities claim they have taken steps against errant taxi drivers, stories shared online suggest little has changed. “Guys beware of this prepaid taxiwalas. They take a note of Rs 500 and convert it into a Rs 100 note…” Priyanka Jadhav wrote on the Indian consumer complaints forum on March 1.Jadhav revealed that she and her mother were cheated by not one, but two taxi drivers on the same day. Both drivers had a blue light in their cars. “So guys beware and please take action against these maniacs,” she wrote. Krupa Palan wrote on May 30 that she was cheated of Rs 1,500. “Changing Rs 500 note to Rs 100 and Rs 1,000 to Rs 50 — I don’t even know how. This is ridiculous,” she said.N Nilay, another complainant on the forum, was also targeted outside Dadar station. “The guy who got me a taxi asked for change for Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 advance… I ended up paying Rs 3,500,” Nilay wrote. “This has been happening for the past seven years… it tars Mumbai’s reputation.” Last year, Jade D’sa, a content marketer and freelancer, posted a blog about being cheated by cabbies at Dadar station.