Have you ever wondered what LTPH’s legal department do to earn their money, well so have we.
In our opinion it doesn’t appear to be protecting the taxi trade against PH companies illegal offering their services, describing themselves as a Taxi service.
Taxi Leaks first reported UbiCabs well over 4 years ago for advertising minicabs as a Taxi service.
We made repeated complaints over a 11 month period to LTPH, but got just the one reply from John Mason saying his legal team would look into it.
We are still waiting to find out what “his legal team” are going to do about this issue.
WHAT IS A TAXI…?
In a letter from The Department for Transport, Paragraph 4 reads “your subsequent e-mail asked for the legal definition of a taxi……A taxi is a vehicle licensed under Section 37 Of The Town Police Clauses Act 1847…. This is a hackney carriage Act, so a taxi is a hackney carriage.
The Miscellaneous Provisions Act defines a private hire vehicle as a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage.
Substituting the word taxi for hackney carriage it becomes clear that a private hire vehicle is…a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a taxi.
Therefore there cannot be a “private hire taxi” or a “taxi private hire”.
Mr. James Button licensing solicitor agrees in his book that taxi is “not a generic word” as this legal definition of taxi has been consistently used in every Act since the 1980 Road Transport Act.
What respected Taxi Drivers are saying:
Isn’t a taxi fitted with a meter? Didn’t @TfL rigorously seek to define what constitutes a ‘taximeter.’ Maybe QC Chamberlain could clarify? Sean Paul Day.
So the London licencing authority is not able to distinguish between the 2 different (taxi & private hire) licences that they issue. Unbelievable. Les Hoath.
A FEW TWEETS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED :
The Licensed Taxi Trade now waits with baited breath to see what our largest org, with their alleged £1m war chest will say and do about this…..perhaps this is another of their done deals?….seems to have gone a bit quiet at W9 lately…
