by News Desk | May 26, 2016 | London News
Rip-off pedicab drivers charging tourists up to £600 for a half-an-hour ride are the targets of a new crackdown unveiled by the Government.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that drivers will have to get a licence to operate in the capital.
They will only be able to charge a “reasonable” fare for short journeys, a level which will be set by Transport for London, and will have to meet minimum standards, similar to those for taxi drivers.
Cabinet minister Mr McLoughlin said: “It’s totally unacceptable for passengers to be taken for a ride by pedicab drivers and charged rip-off fares and carried in dangerous vehicles.
“More often than not it is tourists who feel the brunt of sharp practice from pedicabs, which gives visitors to Britain a distorted impression of our national sense of fair play.”
Police can already hit rogue rickshaw drivers with civil injunctions.
But the new crackdown, due to come into force next year, will give TfL greater powers to stop abuses.
Pedicab drivers who do not have a licence would face being taken to court where they could be hit with fines running into hundreds of pounds.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “My manifesto made it clear that every Londoner and visitor to our city deserves a world-class service, whatever mode of transport they use.
“This move will allow us to ensure pedicabs must make big improvements to the way they operate.”
Shocking stories have emerged of rickshaw drivers demanding astonishing sums for short trips.
One was caught on camera last December asking for £600 for a 30-minute journey.
Another tried to charge a family of tourists £206 for a one-mile journey from Oxford Circus to Marble Arch.
Juris Dzjabovic argued: “I don’t come cheap. I work my legs hard, I look good and I play good music — you have to pay a lot if you want that kind of luxury.”
But other pedicab drivers, charging £1 a minute, have criticised their colleagues who are demanding far higher fares.
Outside London, pedicabs are already classed in the same way as taxis so are regulated.
Different laws apply in the capital, which have allowed pedicab drivers to fleece tourists.
Ministers are now determined to close this loophole, with a licensing system similar to those for taxi drivers and private hire vehicles.
It also aims to protect hard-working pedicab drivers, among the 400 who operate in London, while targeting those charging extortionate fares or whose vehicles are in a dangerous state.
Source: Evening Standard
by News Desk | May 22, 2016 | London News
Early last week one of my best friends, Taxi Driver Danny Hussey, was swooped on by around ten Compliance Officers, in Tooley Street.
They claimed his Cab Driver License was over a year out of date.
Although my mate had received his DBS in March 2015, his Cab License refused to turn up, even though his wife sent four written requests.
To be fair to all parties concerned, he had moved address.
It seemed obvious that my friend had filled in all the correct forms and sent them to the correct address, with all the correct details, because he had been issued with a DBS.
But according to Transport for London, “You will have to go through the whole process again. Including a new medical and new DBS.
Believe me I am not one hundred, but two hundred percent sure you are looking at, at least eighteen weeks before you can work again.”
Who can afford four or five months out of work?
TfL were unwilling to accept any responsibility for this cock-up.
And Danny was told he had to stop work immediately.
I rallied the troops and was preparing for a mass demo outside Palestra House everyday until Danny’s license was reissued.
After all, the license is just a fee. Danny was still a legitimate Taxi Driver; considering he has passed the Knowledge, passed his advanced driving test, passed his medical, and still had two years left on his current DBS. We felt he was being treated harshly.
Surely, we thought, TfL could give him a temporary license/cover note?
But it seems red tape in Palestra House is made of the unbreakable and unimaginative kind, when it is applied to Taxis.
Luckily Danny is a member of a union. He contacted the RMT, and they started negotiating on his behalf immediately.
More and more it looked like TfL were not going to budge.
More and more it looked like a long drawn out war of daily demonstrations on the horizon.
Why do TfL assume that every Taxi driver is up to no good?
No one, it seems, is given the benefit of the doubt from Palestra House – even those like Danny, with an unblemished record.
To cut a long story short, the RMT negotiated a temporary license for Danny, with the proviso that he also renews his DBS. Don’t ask me why.
At least they accepted his medical certificate was still valid.
Post negotiations, this story takes a different turn; highlighting the human side of TfL.
Danny is dyslexic. So when he arrived at the TfLTPH licensing office the next day, he was met by a friendly and extremely patient TfL officer, named Minette. She helped Danny through the whole process. Other members of staff, like Jessie, went out of their way to make Danny feel relaxed, and defused a potentially stressful situation.
Danny told me of the chaos he witnessed, where drivers in similar situations to his, obviously burdened by financial hardship, were pleading with staff for their licenses, so they could just simply go to work.
I will not betray details, but suffice to say Danny wished he had some spare cash to give one particular driver, whose story was heartbreaking.
This is the day to day routine for counter staff at TfLTPH; dealing with drivers under extreme stress, caused by inept clerks and inconsiderate bosses, who delegate the sharp end of the stick down to them.
Danny could not speak highly enough of Lewis Norton, Branch Secretary of the RMT, for turning eighteen weeks into two days.
I refuse to compromise this story by promoting one Union or Org above another. Needless to say, if you do not belong to any Union or Org, get your head out of the sand and your finger out of your arse, and join one now, before you are forced to take a long and unexpected holiday.
You do not want to find yourself up against a stubborn and unaccountable TfL, without some form of backing.
Be lucky.
Lenny
Editorial Comment:
There is no need for any driver to lose work under these conditions:
- a) You have your DBS back and it’s clear.
- b) You have completed and submitted your application:
See >Transpot Act 1985 section 17 (7)<
These are the words of Leon Daniels, who was speaking on behalf of Sir Peter Hendy, appertaining to the Transport Act.
“Where we are provided with a complete application, including the results of the DBS check and any other necessary information, but have not yet made a licensing decision before the old one expires, the existing licence will remain in force until a decision is made in accordance with section 17(7). In these circumstances, a driver will not be issued with, nor require, a temporary licence pending a decision being made on their application.
Please note that contrary to the comment in your email, section 17 of the Transport Act 1985 only applies to London taxi driver and vehicle licences, not London private hire vehicle driver licences.
Kind regards
Leon Daniels | Managing Director
Transport for London | Surface Transport | Palestra |
11th Floor – Zone R4| 197 Blackfriars Road|Southwark|SE1 8NJ“.
>CLICK HERE FOR FULL EMAIL REPLY<
If you are sending your application off using the postal system, send it recorded delivery.
Any driver who had lost work after being told they can’t, after receiving a clear DBS and having presented a completed application form, should seek compensation from TfL for loss of earnings. In these extreme cases it’s not the drivers fault, so TfL should reimburse the driver for work he/she could have undertaken while unlawfully denied the right to work.
by News Desk | May 20, 2016 | London News
While the LTDA are busy braking arms, slapping themselves on the back, in aid of the next Taxi magazine headline….
Taxi Leaks would like to set the record straight by thanking Danny Henderson who made the original FOI request on 11 Fed 2016 to the Met Police.
Freedom of Information Request Reference
We would also like to thank Angela Clarkson and Heather Rawlings from their time and effort spent, bringing this FOI request to the attention of the national press.
We should also like to thank Danny Sullivan for an earlier FOI request which produced this graph showing that more TfL licensed minicab drivers were involved in sexual assaults and rapes than unlicensed fake drivers.
But… Bob, Steve, Richard…don’t let he truth get in the way of a good story….again.
FROM THE PAPERS:
IN THE SUN
UBER drivers are accused of rape or sex attacks on customers nearly three times a month in London.
They were suspects in 32 cases reported by female passengers in the capital across 12 months.
The tap-and-ride app, which now operates in 20 UK cities, claims to be the “safest ride on the road”.
(Funny, not a word about the AddVan here!)
IN THE MIRROR
Female passengers have made 32 claims of rape or sexual assault against Uber drivers in London over the past 12 months.
The Metropolitan Police Service and West Yorkshire Police released information on reports relating to the minicab app after The Sun requested information from 14 police forces.
West Yorkshire Police received four reports of serious sex assaults and eight violent incidents from February 2015 to February this year.
The Met had recorded 154 allegations including minicabs, private chauffeurs and even rickshaw riders.
(Nothing again about the AddVan!)
IN THE INDEPENDENT
Uber drivers are accused of sexually assaulting or raping customers almost three times a month, according to new figures which have outraged rape campaigners.
Freedom of Information data obtained by The Sun newspaper revealed 32 assault claims were made against employees of the taxi-hailing app in London over the past twelve months, equal to one every eleven days.
(Again, not a word about the AddVan!)
What ever next:
They might even claim the kudos for sorting out St Pancras and not even mention the week long demonstrations organised by Dads Defending Daughters and attended by drivers from every org. Oops, too late…they already have.
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