EIRE

Some 5,000 random checks a month are carried out on taxi drivers and their vehicles, the taxi regulator has confirmed following the arrest of a man using a fake taxi roof sign in Dublin.

Gardaí in the Dublin Metropolitan Region traffic corps stopped what they described as a bogus taxi at Bride Street in Dublin 8, at about 10pm last Friday as he was driving a woman home.

The driver had no tax, insurance or NCT and was also driving without a licence. The man, who is in his 30s, was arrested and brought to Kevin Street Garda station. He was later released and is due to appear before Dublin District Court later this month charged in connection with the investigation.

Neither gardaí nor the National Transport Authority, which regulates taxis, would comment further on the case as the man had been charged.

It is understood the driver in question had previously been Garda vetted and licensed as a taxi driver. The vehicle in question is also understood to have been previously licensed, but it was not at the time of detection.

A spokeswoman for the NTA said it had significantly ramped up its compliance team after new legislation came into force in 2014. It carried out about 5,000 random checks a month, not just on taxi ranks or in cities, but all over the country. “It’s pretty busy and it’s pretty full-on,” she said.

The NTA prosecuted 99 individuals last year where the vehicle, the driver or both were not licensed. This was normally rectified on detection, the spokeswoman said.

‘Unusual’

Joe Herron, president of the Irish Taxi Drivers’ Federation, said taxi representative bodies did not like such stories “one little bit” but they were “totally unusual”.

“This has happened so rarely I can’t remember the last time that it happened,” he said. “I know the Rape Crisis Centre issued a warning to women but I think that’s very much over the top, to be honest.

“There are, I think, around 30 enforcement officers. Some of them work directly for the NTA and some of them are on contract. Between them and the guards, this doesn’t happen – you’re not going to get away with it.”

The federation has “a couple of thousand” members, Mr Herron said.

He said intending passengers would recognise a legitimate taxi from its roof sign and number and the driver identification displayed inside the car on the dashboard. The could also download the NTA’s Driver Check app to verify a driver’s details on their phone.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/5-000-taxi-inspections-carried-out-each-month-regulator-says-1.2563438

The head of the Taxi Federation has accused some drivers of lending their cars to people without a taxi licence.

The allegation follows the arrest of a fake taxi driver in Dublin at the weekend.

The man, using a fake sign, was taking a female passenger home when he was pulled over by officers on Friday night.

The incident has prompted calls for tighter control by the taxi regulator.

Joe Heron, President of the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation, said: "It's somebody with a licenced taxi that would let somebody else drive it who isn't licenced. Well of course it isn't legal.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/taxi-federation-head-accuses-drivers-of-lending-taxis-to-unlicenced-drivers-724045.html

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TORONTO


Bran Ramsey says he's been feeling "pro-Uber" since he fell victim to a Toronto taxi debit scam on Friday night.

After a night out with friends, the Toronto man flagged a cab at King Street West and Spadina Avenue to his destination in the Junction. It seemed totally normal, he told CBC News.

"The cab ride wasn't memorable. I just took a cab, paid with debit and went home," Ramsey said. "It was just the next morning I woke up and saw that I had a different debit card, and then tried to log into my online banking and I couldn't."

The driver had apparently swapped his green TD Bank card with a similar one that didn't belong to Ramsey.

"I wasn't even charged for [the cab ride]," he said.  "I don't think the debit machine he used was a real debit machine. So there's no paper trail of me ever being there."

It's a scam Toronto police have seen before, but they believe it's being perpetrated by only a "small number" of drivers.

"People have been drinking so they take a cab and they've got their friends with them, they hand the cards to the suspect," Const. Michael Kiproff said. 

"They do their thing and when they're handed a card back, they just assume it's their card and put it in their pocket and leave."

In January, police issued a warning about this type of scam, which they say targeted dozens of victims over a period of just a few weeks.

At the time, Det. Chris Beattie, the lead investigator in the case, said it is not clear whether those involved are legitimate taxi drivers with major cab companies or just fraudsters pretending to be cabbies.

But, he added, it's best to beware of cabs that don't have a familiar name or logo. Ramsey can't remember for sure what kind of taxi he hailed the night of the theft.

Police got wind of the fraud in mid-December when a TD Bank fraud investigator reported a pattern of 12 incidents in which cab riders saw more than $55,000 taken from their accounts.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/taxi-debit-scam-1.3478566
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