Seven cab drivers who ran away with their leased Mercedes Benz taxis have handed them over to police on their way back to their hometown in Henan. The cars are valued at 3 million yuan (US$375,000 ).

It sounds like a movie, but this is no film. The live action came on Monday after the drivers had a labour dispute with their company based in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

According to a local newspaper report, the Henan drivers last year each paid an 80,000 yuan (US$9,900) deposit to Zhejiang Dazhong Taxi Company. But business was not as good as they had expected, and all of them lost money because of high running costs.

When the company refused their request to suspend the contract, and refund them 70,000 yuan (US$9,000) from their original deposits, the drivers fled in their taxis back to Xihua Town in central China's Henan Province, more than 1,000 kilometres from Hangzhou.

On Tuesday, the vice-director of the company, accompanied by eight members of staff and local police, went to the town to negotiate with the drivers. By yesterday no deals had been reached.

The news has generated a mixed response in Hangzhou.

An experienced driver surnamed Li expressed sympathy for the drivers' plight.

"Renting Benz taxis has barely brought them profit, so it would be very difficult for them to continue in their job."

He said the cost of running a Benz is much higher than other taxis. The daily revenue is about 500 yuan (US$63), but the costs of running a Benz are sometimes higher than that.

"At that rate, they get nothing at the end of a hard day's work."

Other taxis cost about 300 yuan (US$37) per day to operate.

The rental fee for a Benz is normally 11,000, not including spending on gasoline, while the fees for ordinary cars, such as a Passat, are about 7,000.

However, Zhu Jianing, a senior attorney at Zhejiang Xingyun Law Firm, said: "From the civil law point of view, these drivers have broken their contracts. They should not have left with the taxis for their home, which is not in the contracted operating area.

"They should have taken into account the business risk before they signed the contract. And the company has the right to refuse their suggestion to suspend the contract."

He disliked the way the drivers put pressure on the taxi company, but he said it is not a crime because they did not keep the cars for themselves.

The luxurious taxis appeared in the city after last Spring Festival, in an effort to improve the image of the city. There are now 65 Benz cabs in service in Hangzhou. The starting rate for them is 12 yuan (US$1.5), compared to 10 yuan (US$1.25) for ordinary taxis.

(China Daily January 12, 2006)