by News Desk | Jan 7, 2015 | London News
Quentin Hunt acting on behalf of Transport For London has concluded the successful prosecution of the controversial App based Private Hire Vehicle Operator Uber for road traffic offences.
Uber is an app based minicab company which has been the subject of protests from the London Taxi Drivers Association and a strike by black cab drivers causing disruption to the centre of London. The company were accused of offences relating to record keeping and lack of insurance of one of their drivers.
Following significant legal argument the Court ruled in favour of Transport for London which led to the defendant Uber pleading guilty to an offence of causing or permitting a person to drive without a valid certificate of insurance. The court sentenced the defendant company to a financial penalty and ordered the payment of costs.
As a specialist Road Traffic barrister Quentin is adept at defending in Road and Traffic cases. Please contact Quentin if you wish to discuss a case.
by News Desk | Jan 7, 2015 | London News
After many complaints from drivers, the Taxi Leaks’ team wrote to TfL pointing out Uber advertising on its website was insulting and unethical, as the legality of the company was still questionable. TfL briefly suspended the adverts but stated that in their opinion Uber met its advertising guidelines.
Not happy with this response and a fear that the adds would return, Taxi Leaks, using its contact with the RMT, contacted the GLA leader who lodged a question with the Mayor on our behalf.
Last month an inquiry held by the Greater London Authority, released a report describing TfL’s performance in regulating the taxi and private hire trades as “woefully inadequate”. They went on to say TfL had allowed itself to be a “soft touch” when it comes to upholding taxi regulation, citing Uber as “just the tip of the iceberg.” The ads promoting Uber on pages of the TfL website were seemingly another example of this “soft touch” approach.
Both Taxi Leaks and The RMT, have raised further concerns about Uber’s ad placements and those of other firms operating in the capital.
Our complaints were presented to Mayor Boris Johnson by three London Assembly members during last month’s Mayor’s Question Time.
Below is an email received today from Darren Johnsons secretary:
From: Rachel Carlill <Rachel.Carlill@london.gov.uk>
Date: 6 January 2015 10:41:03 GMT
To: xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Uber advertising on TfL website.
Dear xxx,
Please see below for the response Darren has now received in relation to the question he asked on your behalf.
Uber advertising on TfL website
Question No: 2014/4218
Darren Johnson
Given legal questions surrounding Uber’s operation in Greater London are still awaiting clarification, is it appropriate for the company to be advertising on the TfL website?
Written response from the Mayor
Please see my answer to MQ 2014 /4149.
Best wishes,
Rachel
The Mayor has responded, saying TfL will no longer carry any advertising on this particular section of the website following a review of its policies.
The full response reads:
“Given TfL’s licensing and regulatory roles, it has reviewed its policy and is no longer carrying any advertising on the Taxi and Private Hire section of the TfL website.”
Taxi Leaks feel that although this is a clear victory, it’s not a full and concise victory, as the offending adverts may well be displayed on non Taxi and Private Hire TfL web-pages.
The Fight Goes On.
by News Desk | Jan 7, 2015 | World News
TFL lived up to their “woefully inadequate” label, recently given them by the GLA transport inquiry, with an announced 34 Private Hire convictions for touting last year.
While in Cape Town, 35 arrests plus 68 fines for touting over the weekend.
33 Uber drivers were arrested and their vehicles were impounded for,
OPERATING A METERED SERVICE WITHOUT A LICENCE.
This was a direct response to thousands of complaints on social media from the public that Uber were charging passengers up to 900% of the normal fare over the New Year Eve celebrations.
Meanwhile back in London, Leon Daniels, who last year trousered over £340,000 including a performance related pay bonus, is still waiting to ask someone smarter than himself, if Uber drivers (who use a device that calculates the fare based on time and distance travelled) are using a “Taxi Meter”.
Leon, this is Straight from the dictionary
Taximeter—noun
- a device fitted to a Taxicab or other vehicle, for automatically computing and indicating the fare due.
Do you think this man is worth the money we pay him, based on his woefully inadequate performance?
Below is the report carried in the Independent online, Cape Argos and Cape Times
Cape Town – A minibus driver who refused to hand over his vehicle’s keys to city law enforcement officers was one of 35 people arrested for operating without public transport permits at the weekend.
Officers also seized two stolen vehicles and two firearms.
On Saturday officers impounded a minibus and 11 unmarked sedan cars, and on Sunday a further 22 sedan cars were impounded for operating without public transport permits. Officers issued 68 fines.
In all, 33 cars affiliated to the international network of Uber were impounded by City of Cape Town authorities at the weekend.
This comes after the recent backlash on social media because of New Year’s Eve price surges.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the city had received numerous complaints.
“We conduct regular operations in the various CBDs, especially over weekends, focusing on the private hire industry,” he said. “We receive a lot of complaints from the public, especially in relation to illegal parking and other traffic transgressions, but we also check for valid operating permits, driver fitness and vehicle compliance.
“Regardless of the company to which the vehicle is affiliated, everybody is expected to abide by the law.”
LEGAL ‘GREY AREA’
Uber general manager for Durban and Johannesburg, Alon Lits, said Western Cape provincial traffic laws did not cater for the type of service Uber rendered.
“There is some ambiguity about where Uber fits in with the city traffic laws. We are not sure of what type of operating licence drivers should be applying for. Uber does not fall under chauffeuring, chartered taxis nor does it fall under metered taxis.”
Lits said Uber drivers, referred to as Uber partners, were reliable and had all the necessary documentation.
“When registering with Uber, partners need to have their professional driver’s permit, no criminal record and we do an independent background check for criminal record.
“They also have to provide roadworthy certificates every six months, operators’ cards, commercial insurance and operating licences.”
Lits said since identifying the problem with operating licences, the company had engaged in talks with the provincial traffic department to resolve the issue.
“People can see the benefits of Uber in the city; it is creating many jobs.”
OPERATING LICENCE REQUIRED
An Uber ‘partner’, who declined to be named, said two of his vehicles had been impounded.
“Two of my drivers are jobless now and that worries me because they are hard workers and very reliable people.”
He said the provincial law had grey areas which needed to be resolved.
“We don’t fall under metered taxis because we don’t have physical meters in the taxi; we are also confused here, and now we are suffering unnecessarily.”
Siphesihle Dube, spokesman for the MEC of transport and public works, confirmed that the department had met Uber management.
“The reality here is that an operating licence is required where people are transported for reward,” he said.
The city’s view was that Uber was providing a metered taxi service. (Leon Daniels, please take note!)
“Uber management felt that the service could also fall within the very broad definition of a charter service, given that fares are pre-booked. At the time there was a moratorium on metered taxi operating licences, which has subsequently been lifted.”
He said in a discussion with Uber management, officials made it clear that all Uber operators required an operating licence. An ‘Uber partner’ could be regarded as legal only if he or she held a valid operating licence.
Source: Cape Argus, Cape Times
by News Desk | Jan 7, 2015 | London News
First, we had>
London Taxi and Private Hire = LTPH
Then they tried>
Surface Integration Policy = SIP
And now we have>
TfL’s Investigative Transparency Strategy or as we call them = TITS for short.
So now they want to know the truth!
In the face of mounting criticism, Transport for London have put their heads down, back in the trench and issued another meaningless consultation.
They say they exists to keep London working and growing and to make life in the Capital better, unfortunately not a role definition shared by the GLA who have branded them “Woefully Inadequate”.
In their defence they state:
We run a wide range of transport services, invest in major upgrades of the public transport and roads networks and plan for the city’s future.
We are committed to improving transparency for our customers and stakeholders and we are making more information available than ever before.
With responsibility for billions of road and public transport journeys every year and an annual budget of around £9bn, we are a large organisation undertaking a wide range of activities. We publish a huge amount of data reflecting the scale of what we do including contracts, expenditure, operational and financial performance, customer satisfaction and journey patterns. This helps people understand how we run London’s transport network, and how we reinvest in transport the money raised through fares, charges, Government grants and commercial activity.
Openness and transparency in these and other areas help to transform the way in which we operate. It strengthens our relationships with customers and stakeholders, and helps us to work with local communities and businesses to improve our services.
This information also enables innovation in the way our customers travel, with our real time data feeds leading to the development of hundreds of smartphone apps to help people get around the Capital.
By being open and accountable we:
Enable our stakeholders to hold us to account
Deliver better value for money
Help businesses, non-profit organisations, academics and others make transport in London better.
As part of delivering for London, we are committed to being open and transparent about what we do and how we do it and recognise that we must constantly review how we approach this.
We are in the process of developing a Transparency Strategy and we invite you to comment on the main areas where you think we can improve upon what we do already, in order to provide the information that you want. In particular, we would like your feedback on whether:
We are publishing the information you want to know. We publish it in a way that is useful to you.
Additionally we would like your suggestions for any further information we should be making publicly available as a matter of course.
Please tell us about yourself by completing the online survey below. This will help us to analyse responses and contact you in the future.
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