TRAFFORD

A Taxi driver has been ordered to fork out almost £600 after duping a football fan into paying double fare from Old Trafford to Manchester Airport – which he had claimed was the passenger’s idea.

Hackney carriage driver Farzin Kheshvari has been convicted of overcharging a customer he picked up earlier this year.

The victim, a football fan, had travelled with his son to watch Manchester United versus Arsenal back in February and hailed a cab to head back to Manchester Airport after the match.

Kheshvari refused to put the fare on his meter but instead insisted on a fixed fee of £35 upfront for the journey. If 8.3 mile journey had been on the meter, it would have cost approximately £19.

The passenger felt he had been taken advantage of and lodged a complaint with Trafford Council. Kheshvari initially refutes the claims, maintaining that it was the passenger who had insisted on paying £35 for the journey.

Kheshvari pleaded guilty at Manchester and Salford Magistrates on October 7. He was fined £80 for failing to engage the taxi meter, £40 for charging more than the metered fare, ordered to pay costs of £453 and a victim surcharge of £20.

Cllr John Reilly, executive member for economic growth, environment and infrastructure, said: "This conviction reinforces the Council's commitment to protect members of the public. The general public should be able to trust taxi drivers to comply with the rules and regulations and not to take advantage of them.

“The council has adopted byelaws that compel hackney carriage drivers to put fares on the meter when the destination is within the Trafford area or within four miles of the Trafford boundary, as is the case with the airport.

“The council investigates all complaints against licensed drivers, whether they are private hire or hackney carriage drivers, and will continue to enforce against those abusing their position of trust."

Kheshvari will now be referred to the council’s licensing sub-committee and may face further sanction.

http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/14806931.Fined__Football_fan_taken_for_a_ride_by_overcharging_taxi_driver/

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LONDON DEMO

Furious commuters have hit out at black cab drivers after a protest over the “destruction” of the capital’s taxi trade left them stranded in central London during a downpour.

Drivers parked their cars outside Palestra House, opposite Southwark Tube station, as part of the demo against issues including “deregulation of the taxi trade” and complaints over rules surrounding minicabs.

Video posted on social media showed hordes of vehicles crawling past the building on Blackfriars Road as bus routes were diverted away from the area over fears of delays and congestion.

The protest blocked roads around Southwark and Waterloo station, with some passers-by reporting that an ambulance struggled to make its way through the protest.

Twitter user Bethany Lovell described “gridlock” at Waterloo.

She posted a picture of the ambulance pulling into a traffic jam close to the iMax cinema with the caption: “[Traffic] still at a standstill, even @Ldn_Ambulance can’t get through.”

Others described chaotic scenes as they tried to make their way home from work during a torrential downpour.

Jordon Butt tweeted: “Irony: when your bus is 40 mins delayed due to a taxi demo so you consider getting an UBER home.”

Victoria Smith added: “I set off from work over 1.5 hours ago and still stuck in #traffic #taxidemo #demonstration #london #nothappy.”


http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/commuters-outrage-after-black-cab-protest-sparks-gridlock-a3371551.html

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MYTaxi/ HailO, rebrand

Taxi app Hailo has taken on Teneo Blue Rubicon to lead PR and public affairs ahead of its upcoming renaming as mytaxi, PRWeek has learned.

Hailo, which operates in the UK, Ireland and Spain, announced in July its merger with mytaxi, which operates in Spain and six other continental European countries.

The combined entity, with 70 million passengers and 100,000 drivers across 50 cities, will be known as mytaxi, and will be led by Hailo CEO Andrew Pinnington, with mytaxi founder Niclaus Hewes taking a seat on the board. It will be headquartered in Hamburg.

A statement from the company said: "Following the news that Hailo is joining forces with mytaxi to create Europe’s number one taxi app, we’re pleased to announce that Teneo Blue Rubicon has been appointed to lead on public affairs and PR strategy in the UK.

"Its first assignment will be playing a crucial role in the launch of the mytaxi brand in the UK."

The agency started working with Hailo last month.

The organisations have some history of working together - in 2012 Hailo took on Surname & Surname, a now-folded offshoot of Blue Rubicon, to handle its consumer PR.

Blue Rubicon has since been reorganised as Teneo Blue Rubicon following its acquisition by US group Teneo last year. Since that announcement, it has won a string of major clients including Diageo, Kingfisher and Halfords


http://www.prweek.com/article/1412311/teneo-blue-rubicon-appointed-oversee-taxi-app-hailo-rebrand-merger

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GLASGOW

Police are appealing for the victim who fled an attack in a taxi in the east end of Glasgow to come forward.

Detectives have launched an investigation following a serious assault in Carntyne in the early hours of Sunday.

The victim was injured in a disturbance at a house in Penicuik Way at around 4am.

The man, believed to be in his mid-20s to early 30s, suffered a head injury but did not contact the emergency services and instead got into a taxi and was dropped off in Penilee.

Officers are keen to speak to the man to ensure he is safe and well. He is described as white, with a slim build, around 5ft 6in or 5ft 7in with short dark hair.

He was wearing a black leather bomber jacket and dark coloured jeans.


http://stv.tv/news/west-central/1370160-attack-victim-who-fled-in-taxi-urged-to-contact-police/

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 WALES

A woman who was sexually abused as a teenager by her school taxi driver says victims need to “keep telling people” until someone listens and offers help.

Esther Hoad, who has waived her right to lifelong anonymity, was sexually abused by Evan Heddwyn Jones - the man who drove her every day in that role.

Jones, 71, of Harford, Llanwrda, in Carmarthenshire, was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault. He was sentenced to three years in prison at Swansea Crown Court on Monday and will be placed on the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life.

Esther, who grew up in the Ffarmers Village area of Carmarthenshire , is now 53.

She said she was abused by Jones in the 1970s when she was aged between 14 and 16.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/woman-sexually-abused-teenager-school-12036540

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NEWCASTLE

Taxi comparison and booking app Karhoo has launched in Newcastle as it takes the fight to cab disrupter Uber.

Many traditional taxi firms are struggling to compete with online firms such as Uber and Lyft, where passengers can book and pay via an app.

Uber gives customers the driver’s name, location, car make and registration of their transport, with most vehicles arriving within minutes.

Karhoo describes itself as a vendor-neutral platform for licensed and accredited taxi firms and allows passengers to compare cabs by price, proximity and vehicle style.

The firm now has a network of 120,000 cabs in the UK with a presence in London, Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Derby, Bristol and Liverpool.

It launched in Newcastle today with 75 per cent of the city’s taxi and private hire market on its books including Budget Taxis, Five Star Taxis, Walker Taxis, Street Cars Taxis, Redline Taxis and East Coast Taxis.

http://www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/taxi-comparison-app-to-rival-uber-launches-in-newcastle