LONDON

TAXI UNION RMT is calling for action to be taken after London Mayor Boris Johnson admitted that Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) were illegally plying for hire in the capital.

RMT London taxi driver branch secretary Lewis Norton rang into the Mayor’s regular 'AskBoris' phone in on LBC.

When asked if the Mayor acknowledged previous comments he had made that traffic congestion in the capital can be attributed to the high volume of Private Hire vehicles 'roaming streets looking for fares', he agreed.

Lewis Norton pointed out to him that this was, in fact illegal  as PHVs are in effect plying for hire, which is the sole right of Licensed Taxis.

The mayor admitted that PHVs are 'plying trade in the way you described' and has referred the matter the MPs.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the exchange illustrated that the Mayor was fully aware that smartphone apps such as Uber were circumventing the law by illegally plying for hire.

“The London Mayor is simply ignoring the issue as he continues to allow the company to operate in this way,” he said.

http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/london-mayor-admits-illegal-taxi-trade-is-rife/
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 NOTTINGHAM

 A man who provided fake taxi plates has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud relating to taxi licensing.

Waseem Akhtar, 32, of Dovedale Road, Carlton, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday August 28.

Despite never being a taxi driver for Gedling Borough Council, Mr Akhtar sold a vehicle to a third party claiming it was licensed with the council. He tampered with the license plate to change the date and produced a fake paper license in order to make a profit.

Although the plates may have appeared convincing to passers-by, an eagle-eyed member of staff from the council’s Licensing department spotted the inauthenticity and reported it immediately.

Mr Akhtar is a repeat offender of fraud; he was jailed in 2013 for six months for falsely claiming he held a taxi licence, following previous convictions for the same offence. He was also jailed for a further two months after admitting submitting false receipts for journeys he had not completed.

Since June, he has been on bail with the conditions of not sitting in the front of a private hire vehicle.

http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/news/local/faked-taxi-plates-man-sent-to-prison-1-7439559
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EXETER

 A taxi driver who followed his sat nav ended up driving the wrong way along a dual carriageway in the early hours of the morning.

Anthony Ryan caused a crash after he did a U turn on the A30 dual carriageway and ended up driving towards oncoming traffic.

He then did a second U turn to go to the aid of the driver he had caused to crash into the central reservation.

The 58 year old cabbie admitted careless driving on the A30 near Exeter, Devon, in May.

He told Exeter magistrates court he lost his bearings in the pitch dark after hitting major roadworks on Telegraph Hill and Splatford Split.

He said he was driving an intoxicated female passenger from Torquay to Exeter but she was unsure of where she was heading.

The self employed cabbie said:”I got confused. I had one eye on the sat nav. The lady was not sure where she was going. I was driving along and the sat nav told me to turn round.

“I did a U turn like a silly man. I did not overtake any cars coming towards me.”

He said he drove for about a quarter of a mile the wrong way down the dual carriageway before a driver braked heavily and swerved to avoid him and struck the barrier leaving him with minor wounds and whiplash.

Prosecutor Lyndsey Baker said Ryan, of Osprey Drive, Torquay, had got on to the A30 the wrong way after ‘losing his bearings’.

His tipsy passenger claimed he passed up to three vehicles going in the right direction before he made his second U turn to face the right way again – something he denied.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls said:”It was a serious matter.”

He fined him a total of £785 and put seven points on his driving licence but Ryan escaped a ban which would have ruined his business.

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Taxi-driver-claims-sat-nav-cause-drive-wrong-way/story-27724377-detail/story.html
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LONDON/WALES

 IMOGEN Thomas has spoken of her shock at being involved in a crash while in a taxi.

The reality star and model, who is currently pregnant with her second child, said she was "shaking" after the experience last week.

She spent the night at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital while midwives and doctors monitored her baby.

She later thanked her followers via Twitter and praised the NHS.

http://www.llanellistar.co.uk/Llanelli-s-Imogen-Thomas-kept-overnight-London/story-27715673-detail/story.html
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 The president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, has criticised ride-sharing service Uber for increasing unemployment, adding to a chorus of labour concerns about the world’s most valuable venture-backed startup.

Rousseff said local authorities must regulate the service, which has led conventional taxi drivers to stage protests and lobby lawmakers in Brazil’s three biggest cities.

São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital, Brasília, have all moved to ban the mobile application, which lets users hail Uber drivers for rides. None of the bans have yet taken effect, as mayors weigh whether to approve the laws.

In June, French president, François Hollande, said the low-cost UberPop service should be illegal, following violent protests by Parisian taxi drivers. Uber drivers in the United States won class action status on Tuesday for litigation demanding employee benefits.

“Uber is complicated because it takes jobs away from people … it leaves taxis with less work,” Rousseff said in response to a reporter’s question. “It’s not an easy issue. It depends on the rules of each city and state, because it is not a federal government decision.”

The San Francisco-based startup declined to comment.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/03/uber-increases-unemployment-and-needs-regulation-says-brazils-president
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