Statement From Action4Cabbies Regarding Judicial Review On Credit Card Surcharges.

Statement From Action4Cabbies Regarding Judicial Review On Credit Card Surcharges.

On January 18th 2016 Action For Cabbies embarked on a crowdfunding campaign to try and raise an initial £600,000 so as to obtain permission from the court to launch a judicial review against Transport For London for alledgedly wrongly and potentially illegally issuing Uber with a Private Hire Vehicle Operators License. The initial deadline for raising the funds was set for March 18th, after several extensions the final deadline was on April 7th. The extensions were given so as to see if we could still make the original target and to give the LTDA time to match the £300,000 as was originally agreed. Despite our best efforts we failed to reach the £600,000 target, we managed to raise in excess of £350,000. Nobody in the history of the Licensed London Taxi Trade had ever managed to raise funds to this level before but sadly the original plan was not to be.

Anticipating that we may need to adopt an alternative plan a consultation was undertaken on March 3rd by AskPOB. This consultation was to find out if those who contributed to the original fund would back an alternative plan to try and launch a judicial review against Transport For London with regard to certain aspects surrounding how TFL were implementing the impending mandatory credit card initiative.  To that effect we asked Taxi Drivers to decide whether this would be a route that they would like us to examine and potentially undertake. The majority voted in favour to proceed with seeking permission for a Judicial Review in regards to the driver paying the transaction charge.

Upon realising that we would not reach the £600,000 target and with a majority vote from the consultation it was decided on March 31st 2016 to switch from trying to obtain permission for a judicial review in relation to Uber being licensed to attempting to obtain a judicial review in relation to how the credit card initiative was being invoked. Everybody who pledged through the crowdfunding initiative was given the opportunity to withdraw their pledge by 5pm on April 5th.Numerous announcements were made over various platforms including e-mail, Facebook and Twitter and it was made clear that any uncancelled pledges would be used for attempting to obtain permission for the judicial review surrounding credit cards.

Certain aspects of the alternative judicial review had to be altered as there would have been no prospect of getting a positive result as well as aspects that were not unreasonable  such as objecting to fixed payment machines, the mandated requirement to accept credit cards, the list of suppliers to name but 3.

An application for a judicial review was lodged with the court on May 3rd and some of the monies that had been collected were paid to Rosenblatts Solicitors as a retainer, all remaining monies are being dealt with via our accountants Raffingers and will be paid to Rosenblatts Solicitors upon receiving a full and final costing.

On July 17th we received informal notification from our solicitors that the  attempt to obtain a judicial review had failed, we would not be given leave to challenge Transport For London in court. We received the official notification several days later.

Naturally we are very disappointed with this outcome as we feel that there is a strong enough case. We would like to thank every single person that believed in this cause. We may have failed on this occasion however the positives that have come from this are enormous…..the biggest positive being that we have proved that we CAN galvanise ourselves and fight back as an industry.

Moving forward we are going to continue fighting tooth and nail to help protect this industry and help it to flourish. We may have lost this battle but we aim to help win this war.

Once again we wish to thank each and every one of you for your support.

Stronger Together

Action For Cabbies

Leon Daniels Phoned Uber’s Jo Bertram At Least 24 Times From TfL Registered Phone.

Leon Daniels Phoned Uber’s Jo Bertram At Least 24 Times From TfL Registered Phone.

Following on from the “Ubergate incident”, concerning embarrassing emails which were sent between TfL’s managing Director of Surface Transport Leon Daniels and Uber’s Jo Bertram, it has now been revealed in a Freedom of Information request, that Director Daniels contacted Jo Bertram personally no less than 24 times by phone between June 2014 and April 2015.

The request also shows a further 31 calls were registered from TfL mobile phones between 19th December 2014 and 9th April 2015.
Telephone calls made between Daniels and Bertram:
11th x2, 13th, 18 June 2014
2nd, 25th x2 July 2014
19th August 2014
25th September 2014
13th October 2014
4th x2, 10th x2, 15th December 2014
19th, 20th January 2015
13th, 16th x3 March 2015
23rd April 2015
1st May 2015
6th June 2015.
Val Shawcross recently explained to collective from the Action4Cabbies group, in future the Taxi trade would only be dealing with three TfL personnel, that being Commissiner Mike Brown, Chief Operating Officer Garett Emmerson and General Manager T&PH Helen Chapman.
Leon Daniels is no longer overseeing the running of Taxis and Private Hire. It’s alleged he has been moved sideways to take on other projects.
In the bold restructuring, anyone with a conflict of interest will no longer have a seat on the board of TfL.
Val Shawcross announced to the A4C group that at least half the board including Bob Oddy, Steve Wright and Peter Anderson are to be replaced.
Full details will be announced once the new board has been fully recruited.
Still Blue Peter? Addison Lee, No Prosecution over Rugby World Cup Liveries, Yet Taxi Drivers Reported For Unauthorised Signage.

Still Blue Peter? Addison Lee, No Prosecution over Rugby World Cup Liveries, Yet Taxi Drivers Reported For Unauthorised Signage.

Ex TfL commissioner Sir Peter Hendy, is still sticking it to the London Licensed Trade Trade Cabbies.

Hendy, became the centre of attention in a sex scandal, when it was revealed he was paying a broke prostitute £140 an hour for sex after finding her on the adult sex website Adultwork.com .
While London was watching the Olympics, Hendy was having and adulterous affair with his £140 an hour hooker.
While in charge of TfL, Hendy allegedly made conditions for Taxi drivers increasingly more stringent while at the same time easing off on regulations governing the licensing of Private Hire.
Under his watch, Uber was given an operators licence even though they never met the regulations faced by other private hire operators.
And now it seems, even though Hendy is no longer in charge at TfL, he is still using his influence to stick it to the Taxi trade.
Last week, we were informed that Addison Lee would not be prosecuted by TFL for taking no notice of LTPH and going ahead with their full body liveries advertising the Rugby World Cup in spite of the legislation and regulations governing advertising on PHVs
And yet TfL compliance have decided to warn a Licensed Taxi driver, about his in cab window sticker.
So it’s one set of rules for us…..and no rules it seems for them.
What say our trade representative bodies…..the silence is deafening !
Horrified Uber passenger ‘photographs his driver playing Pokemon Go DURING their journey across London’

Horrified Uber passenger ‘photographs his driver playing Pokemon Go DURING their journey across London’

A horrified chef claims his Uber driver was playing Pokémon Go behind the wheel and even swiped the screen to catch monsters during the journey through London.

Paul Mohammad said he was travelling from Haringey to Bounds Green in north London when he noticed the male driver had the popular gaming app open on his mobile phone.

He took a picture from the back seat of the car which allegedly shows the device – fixed to a hands-free station – with the Pokémon version of a street map on display.

He took a picture from the back seat of the car which allegedly shows the device - fixed to a hands-free station - with the Pokémon version of a street map on display

Horrified chef Paul Mohammad, 22, claims his Uber driver was playing Pokémon Go behind the wheel and even swiped the screen to catch monsters during the journey through London

Although the shot doesn’t show the driver touching the phone, Mr Mohammad said there were times during the 20 minute journey where the driver did use one hand to play with the screen.

Mr Mohammad, 22, said: ‘I was surprised to say the least. Obviously it’s very popular at the moment but I didn’t expect a driver to be playing it while he’s on the road.

‘I was travelling to my girlfriend’s house, probably only 20 minutes away, but it was on the screen the whole time.

Mr Mohammad said he was travelling from Haringey to Bounds Green in north London when he noticed the male driver had the popular gaming app open on his mobile phone

Mr Mohammad said he was travelling from Haringey to Bounds Green in north London when he noticed the male driver had the popular gaming app open on his mobile phone

‘He was actually collecting Pokémon on the road as he was driving. I don’t play it but I knew what he was doing.

‘I didn’t mention it to him but I couldn’t believe it so I thought I would take a video to show my friends.

‘You could even hear the background music coming from the phone. He was swiping the screen and definitely playing it.

‘I was amazed that even an Uber driver was playing it. Because of the traffic, he wasn’t able to concentrate on it that much.

‘But there were times when he was touching it to catch Pokémon.

‘At first I thought it was a bit crazy but in the end I actually found it pretty funny. I’m quite relaxed about it.

‘I showed my friends and they were like: ‘What the f***, you need to call the police’.’

Uber said it had not received any formal feedback following the journey, which took place at around 6pm last Wednesday.

A spokesman said: ‘We take any allegation of distracted driving very seriously.

‘We would encourage the rider on this trip to get in touch with us so we can identify the journey, investigate what happened and take any follow up action necessary with the licensed driver.’

Source: Daily Mail

Letter To Editor : You Can Only a Kick Someone So Many Times Before They Kick You Back

Letter To Editor : You Can Only a Kick Someone So Many Times Before They Kick You Back

Soon we’ll completely ignore their rules. let’s face it, WTF are they going to do to our trade after kicking it in the testes for so long, it’s on it’s knees. Are they going to sack us, refuse to issue a licence?

They appear to live in that fantasy world, all those types do. In that they believe we’ll all carry on as before, because they say so. yet they wouldn’t get out of bed for less than £xxxxx salary, yet expect working preople to work for a pittance, whilst their profession is destroyed around them. Well TFL it’s not going to happen.

They’ll end up with the inferior service they already get from those app based suppliers. but, then they don’t really give a fece do they. Didn’t that flacid TFL sychophant say, “it’s what Londoners want”, whilst lieing his teeth off about land lines, & Insurance?

So WTF are TFL going to do to drivers who have no stakeholding or concern about TFL regs. Oh Yes, you’re going to badge & bill us, along with hold up our license renewals, that’ll impress us, won’t it, not.

I forgot, TFL already have minicabs that don’t abide by their regs, whilst TFL do sweet FA to them, except the odd road stop or similar.

It’s merely the ability to earn a living, whilst having reasonable freedom, flexibility of the job, that made it worth while,& for us to obey the stupid, pathetic over burdensome, inflexible, unmovable rules imposed upon us and still doing so as they’ve destroyed those aspects of it, it’s no longer viable, so why should i bother listening to their BS about rules.

After all didn’t TFL ride a coach & horses through all the rules to licence that app supplier? Which in doing so, raised the anger of the minicab fraternity who had obeyed those very rules. Now 98% of minicab business’s have gone out of business, so why did they bother obeying any fece issued by a nasty, distainful, unlawful, dishonest, cheating, lieing, fraudulant, TFL? and why should we bother?

TFL needs to be the one that provides evidence of being fit & proper persons to conduct the business of the people, not London taxi drivers.

So far taxi drivers have shown more commitment, honesty to their buniness than TFL have shown to the entire electorate of London.

TFL, destroyers of the London licensed taxi (Black cab), destroying the livelyhoods of the independent individual traders of London on behalf of Corporate sector profitability!

Unfortunately, this letter was unsigned.
Autogas To Start Trial With Converted Diesel Taxi To New Petrol/Gas In London.

Autogas To Start Trial With Converted Diesel Taxi To New Petrol/Gas In London.

The Autogas Taxi- cleaner, cheaper solution 

Autogas is shortly to commence a trial in London of a traditional black London taxi running on LPG.
The company, which has the largest network of automotive LPG refuelling pumps in the UK, hopes the cab will be approved by Transport for London for use later this year.
The vehicle, which has had its diesel engine replaced by a petrol engine converted to run on LPG, will be run 24 hours a day in order to speed up the process, which includes a 10,000 mile durability test. If you’re experiencing issues with your diesel engine, don’t hesitate to get in touch with G&R Diesel Repair for expert assistance.
Autogas believes the LPG re-powering solution will prove attractive to black cab owners who want to extend the working life of their vehicle in London rather than invest immediately in a brand-new one.
Paul Oxford, business development manager of Autogas, said: “Not everyone is going to rush out and buy a new vehicle straightaway. If someone is coming up to retirement, for example, why buy a new cab?
With Ultimate diesel tuning, they can get another five years of service from the vehicle, as well as dramatically reducing air pollution and making substantial savings on fuel costs.
Most of the probate attorneys has said has that currently London imposes an age limit of 15 years on black cabs with diesel engines. In contrast, approved LPG conversions can be exempted and allowed to run for another five years, up to 20 years old. If you need lawyers’ help, find an adoption attorneys here!
This provision is important in the run-up to 2018, when all new hackney carriages in London will have to be zero emission capable as part of the city’s drive to reduce air pollution. Taxis which are already licensed won’t be affected.
Birmingham City Council has already backed LPG as an alternative fuel which will help reduce air pollution in the city. Sixty-three of the city’s taxi fleet are being ‘repowered’ from diesel engines to petrol engines running on autogas LPG.
Initial emission testing at MIllbrook has shown the LPG technology produces 80% fewer NOx emissions compared with a normal diesel powered version, as well as a 99% reduction in sooty particulate matter.
At around 55p a litre, LPG is also cheaper than conventional fuels. Repowering of a taxi costs around £8,000 and takes around three days.
It’s surprising that both the new Mayor and former Mayor made no attempt to look at the benifits of LPG in the London a Taxi fleet. Instead they are expecting drivers to invest in an untried technology with suspect health issues to the drivers (and regular users).
Hailo Takes Fight To Uber With Daimler Deal

Hailo Takes Fight To Uber With Daimler Deal

Hailo is plotting a merger with MyTaxi, an app owned by Mercedes-Benz’s parent, in an effort to fight Uber.

Britain’s taxi-app wars will step up a gear this week when Hailo unveils a merger with MyTaxi as part of a strategic investment by Daimler, one of the car industry’s biggest manufacturers.

Taxi News has learnt that Hailo will announce on Tuesday that it is to become part of the Mercedes-Benz-owner’s portfolio in an effort to take on Uber, the world’s most valuable taxi-hailing app.

Sources said that Hailo, which launched in 2011, had been seeking a strategic investor for some time.

The company’s existing investors include some of the technology sector’s biggest names, including Accel, Wellington Partners as well as entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson.

Daimler acquired MyTaxi, which claims to be Europe’s leading taxi-booking app, in 2014, having bought an initial stake in its owner, Intelligent Apps, two years earlier.

This week’s deal will see another tech start-up devoured by a major corporate name operating in its industry, underlining their determination to capture the growth emanating from new distribution models.

Volkswagen, which is reeling from the impact of its US diesel emissions scandal, recently invested $300m in Gett, an Israeli taxi venture.

The terms of the investment in Hailo, including the size of the stake that would continue to be held by external investors, were unclear on Monday.

Hailo, which operates in markets including Ireland, Japan and Spain as well as several British cities, also made an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the US taxi market.

The company has raised roughly $100m in total since its launch, including most recently from a group of unnamed Asian investors to accelerate its growth.

Uber has continued to raise billions of dollars from investors across the globe even as it has faced regulatory roadblocks in a number of major markets.

Hailo declined to comment on Monday.

Source: Sky News

Taxi And Limousine Commission Vote To Limit Cabbies’ Working Hours

Taxi And Limousine Commission Vote To Limit Cabbies’ Working Hours

Starting in November, cab drivers will not be allowed to drive for more than 12 hours a day.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission is trying to get drowsy drivers off the road.

On Monday July 18, the TLC voted to pass new rules that limit cab drivers from being on the road more than 12 hours daily and 72 hours weekly. These limits would apply to the more than 140,000 drivers licensed by the TLC, including taxi, limousine, commuter van, black car and Uber drivers.

The rules, which were proposed in May, are aimed at tackling driver fatigue, something the TLC has taken more seriously since an elderly Manhattan woman was fatally struck by a taxi in May 2015. Since then, the TLC has collected research from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Sleep Foundation and the US Federal Highway Administration, which concluded that driving fatigued is similar to driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to the TLC, the data also revealed that over 2014 and 2015, “the crash rate of taxi drivers working more than 12 hours in a day was 23.8 percent higher than for those who worked 12 or fewer hours in a day. Over the same two-year period, the crash rate of taxi drivers working more than 72 hours in a week was 8.6 percent higher than for those who worked 72 or fewer hours in a week.”

TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi said in a public statement, “The work of TLC-licensed drivers is critical to the movement of the City. To minimize the risk of a crash, drivers must be alert, which requires rest. But these crashes are preventable with a reasonable limit on the hours during which a driver can pick-up passengers. Today’s proposal does that.”

However, the TLC admitted in its proposal that the new rules will only affect a minority of drivers. It stated, “Only a small percentage of drivers ordinarily surpass the new limits; 3 percent typically drive more than 12 hours per day, and less than 7 percent drive for more than 72 hours per week.” The TLC hoped this would calm concerned cab drivers who fear the new rules will cap their earnings.

The BK Reader reached out to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance for comment but it said it will withhold comments until the new rules are implemented in November.

Despite Monday’s vote the TLC’s new rules are subject to change before they go into affect on November 1 as the commission is still figuring out its exact method of enforcement.

Read also: Ann Arbor Party Bus Rental.

Taxis ‘must be allowed in Oxford Street even after it’s pedestrianised’

Taxis ‘must be allowed in Oxford Street even after it’s pedestrianised’

Taxis must be allowed to continue to access Oxford Street even after it is pedestrianised, the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association has said.

Plans to transform the world famous shopping street into a car-free zone were unveiled by the Mayor of London’s office earlier this month.

City Hall said all vehicles will be banned on a 1.2 mile stretch from Tottenham Court Road to Bond Street Tube station by 2020 to coincide with the launch of Crossrail, the new east to west train line.

The project is among measures introduced by Mayor Sadiq Khan to tackle London’s air pollution.

But the attorneys helping clients with probate litigation said it objects to any restriction on taxis’ access, which would have a detrimental impact on those who require a door-to-door service including wheelchair users and the elderly. People can find trust lawyers from here, if they need advice for elderly wills. You can also check out litigation lawyers for hire from here!

“We agree with the Mayor that the levels of congestion and the poor air quality on Oxford Street are unsustainable,” a spokesman for the LTDA said. Here are 3 must have estate planning documents, that are necessary for the elderly after retirement.

“At last month’s Transport Committee hearing on this issue, there was a general consensus that reducing bus services was the best way to alleviate these problems. We are glad to hear that the Mayor intends to reroute bus services away from Oxford Street.

“However, it is essential that taxis are allowed to continue to access Oxford Street, as they provide an invaluable service to shoppers and businesses alike, especially those who rely on a door-to-door service, such as wheelchair users, the visually impaired, the elderly, those with luggage and shoppers with young families.

“Taxis are a fundamental part of the Oxford Street experience for tourists and all new cabs will be emissions-free from next year.”

Oxford Street’s transformation would be carried out in two stages to minimise disruption with the first phase of construction on the eastern section from Oxford Circus onwards.

City Hall has vowed to work closely with local business and taxi drivers to meet the needs of the elderly and disabled using the busy shopping street.

A Mayor of London spokesman said: “The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street will make this world famous street safer, and improve the air quality for the thousands of people who use it every day.

“It will be a phased programme of work overall several years, working closely with local businesses, residents and key stakeholders like taxi drivers and groups that represent disabled people.

“This will include looking carefully at addressing the particular needs of older people and access for wheelchair users.”

  • Source : Standard News
Fatal bus stop crash in Hornchurch

Fatal bus stop crash in Hornchurch

A taxi driver died after crashing into the bus stop in Station Lane, Hornchurch

The suburban taxi driver died and two of his passengers were injured, after crashing into a bus stop.
Police were called to the incident at 12.50am this morning.
The collision happened in Station Lane, Hornchurch, just outside the tube station.
Paramedics were in attendance but the Taxi driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
A male and female passenger were taken to an east London hospital for treatment.
The road was closed off by police shortly after the crash and Hornchurch tube station was shut for a brief period.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that next of kin had been informed and a post mortem examination will be held in due course.
Enquiries continue.