EDINBURGH
A taxi driver has been charged under the road traffic act after a crash in which his three passengers were injured .
The crash happened in Edinburgh's Cowgate at around 9.20pm on Saturday.
The women are receiving treatment for non-life threatening injuries at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/taxi-driver-charged-connection-horror-10326556
------------------------------------------
BARRY, WALES
A teenager died following a collision with a taxi after running away from a house he had knocked on during a game, an inquest heard.
Morgan Ackerman, 16, was playing the game referred to as ‘knock knock ginger’ with two of his friends on Barry Road, Barry, at around 10.30pm on January 3 when he ran out into the road into the path of the vehicle.
He was rushed to hospital but was found to be deeply unconscious and suffering from a “devastating” brain injury. He died the next day at the University Hospital Wales, Cardiff.
A conclusion of accidental death was recorded at the inquest into the death of the teenager which was heard at Cardiff Coroner’s Court on Thursday.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/teenager-died-following-collision-taxi-12953230
-----------------------------------------
SUNDERLAND
A man has had his taxi licence revoked today after he failed a roadside drugs test for cocaine and cannabis.
Durham's Road Policing Unit pulled over a taxi at 12.30am today in Station Road, Seaham, and said the driver had test positive for both substances.
He was arrested at the scene. The team has now said a 30-year-old from the town has had his taxi licence revoked today and must now wait to find out what happens in relation to his driving licence.
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/our-region/county-durham/seaham/driver-loses-taxi-licence-after-failing-roadside-drug-test-in-early-hours-check-1-8520098
-------------------------------------
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Friday, 28 April 2017
BRADFORD
A TAXI driver was caught ferrying £3,000 of Class A drugs across Bradford in his underpants because the police stopped him for not wearing a seatbelt.
Tauqir Zeb was pulled up on Upper Rushton Road in an uninsured black BMW with hundreds of wraps of crack cocaine and heroin on him and £600 in cash.
Zeb, 29, of St Augustines Terrace, Undercliffe, Bradford, was very nervous and physically shaking after he was stopped and questioned at 10.30am on October 31 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard today.
When he told officers he was not insured to drive the car a seizure notice was issued and the vehicle searched.
Zeb was then found to have wraps of heroin with a street value of £2,155 in a large white plastic bag in his underpants, along with £1,327 of crack cocaine.
Prosecutor, Laura McBride, said he told arresting officers: "I am just a taxi driver. I am just moving them on for someone."
Cocaine with a street value of £644 was discovered in his bedroom , along with scales with powder on them and a cutting agent.
Zeb later said he was acting as a drugs courier after running up a debt for a wedding.
Miss McBride said the high purity of the cocaine seized was an aggravating factor and the fact that Zeb, who was not a drug addict, was working for financial reward.
He had custody of more than £4,000 of drugs in individually wrapped street deals.
Zeb pleaded guilty at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court to possession of heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine with intent to supply.
His barrister, Soheil Khan, said Zeb had lost his job as a taxi driver after pleading guilty to the offences.
He was performing a limited function under the direction of others and there was no evidence of drug dealing on his phone or of any high living, Mr Khan told the court .
Zeb had worked as a taxi driver for three years, been employed as a window cleaner, a restaurant worker and in the security industry before then.
He now had the offer of a job as an administrative worker with a civil law firm in Sheffield.
http://bit.ly/2pf0s1i
---------------------------------------
Manchester Airport.
Two people have been arrested following a fight at Manchester Airport.
Police were called when the scrap broke out at a taxi rank at Terminal 3 on Friday night.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of common assault and remain in police custody.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Officers were called to Manchester Airport at around 8.30pm to a report of two males fighting by the taxi rank at Terminal 3.
“Two men were arrested for common assault.”
http://bit.ly/2oUIvmd
A TAXI driver was caught ferrying £3,000 of Class A drugs across Bradford in his underpants because the police stopped him for not wearing a seatbelt.
Tauqir Zeb was pulled up on Upper Rushton Road in an uninsured black BMW with hundreds of wraps of crack cocaine and heroin on him and £600 in cash.
Zeb, 29, of St Augustines Terrace, Undercliffe, Bradford, was very nervous and physically shaking after he was stopped and questioned at 10.30am on October 31 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard today.
When he told officers he was not insured to drive the car a seizure notice was issued and the vehicle searched.
Zeb was then found to have wraps of heroin with a street value of £2,155 in a large white plastic bag in his underpants, along with £1,327 of crack cocaine.
Prosecutor, Laura McBride, said he told arresting officers: "I am just a taxi driver. I am just moving them on for someone."
Cocaine with a street value of £644 was discovered in his bedroom , along with scales with powder on them and a cutting agent.
Zeb later said he was acting as a drugs courier after running up a debt for a wedding.
Miss McBride said the high purity of the cocaine seized was an aggravating factor and the fact that Zeb, who was not a drug addict, was working for financial reward.
He had custody of more than £4,000 of drugs in individually wrapped street deals.
Zeb pleaded guilty at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court to possession of heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine with intent to supply.
His barrister, Soheil Khan, said Zeb had lost his job as a taxi driver after pleading guilty to the offences.
He was performing a limited function under the direction of others and there was no evidence of drug dealing on his phone or of any high living, Mr Khan told the court .
Zeb had worked as a taxi driver for three years, been employed as a window cleaner, a restaurant worker and in the security industry before then.
He now had the offer of a job as an administrative worker with a civil law firm in Sheffield.
http://bit.ly/2pf0s1i
---------------------------------------
Manchester Airport.
Two people have been arrested following a fight at Manchester Airport.
Police were called when the scrap broke out at a taxi rank at Terminal 3 on Friday night.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of common assault and remain in police custody.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Officers were called to Manchester Airport at around 8.30pm to a report of two males fighting by the taxi rank at Terminal 3.
“Two men were arrested for common assault.”
http://bit.ly/2oUIvmd
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
LONDON...25000 CABS.. LESS THAN 75 CHARGERS
Transport for London is spending £18m on upgrading the capital’s power grids to charge the first generation of battery-powered black cabs.
From 1 January 2018, all new black cabs will have to be battery-powered electric models by law as part of TfL’s effort to reduce toxic pollution from diesel engines.
The cash will pay for network reinforcements to enable British Gas owner Centrica and other energy companies to install 300 rapid electric car charging stations by 2020.
The charging point can top up a car’s battery within minutes, rather than the hours it takes for the city’s thousands of conventional electric vehicles.
An initial 75 fast chargers are due to be operational by the end of the year. While some of the sites will be exclusively for black cabs, the network will also be open to the increasing number of owners of Teslas, Nissan Leafs and electric BMWs in London.
Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of surface strategy and planning, said: “An extensive, rapid charging network is fundamental in helping drivers make the shift from fossil fuels to electric.”
The cost of installing the chargers will fall on the companies that won a TfL tender: Centrica, Bluepoint London, Chargemaster, Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board and Fastned from the Netherlands.
Pricing has not been announced, but the main existing network in the capital, Source London, would cost a Leaf driver £10.80 to fully top up with a rapid charger, plus a £4 monthly fee. TfL said the cost to drivers would be capped for the first two years.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association expects the first electric black cabs on London’s roads in September.
Cabbies with an existing taxi older than 10 years will be able to claim a payment from TfL of up to £5,000 later this year towards the cost of the new zero-emission taxis, which are being built at a factory in Coventry.
http://bit.ly/2oLspdI
----------------------------------------------
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Hundreds of taxi and bus drivers protested outside Romania's government offices on Wednesday to demand that Uber and other online ride service be outlawed.
Drivers parked some 200 taxis and buses outside the office buildings in the capital, disrupting transport in the already crowded city, and blew vuvuzela horns.
The protest, which had been planned to last all day, ended early after the government agreed to pass an ordinance within days better regulating taxi services.
Minister for Public Consultation and Social Dialogue Gabriel Petrea met with some of the protesters and the two sides signed a protocol where the government pledged to pass the ordinance within 30 days.
There were no details immediately available how Uber would be affected.
The Confederation of Licensed Transport Operators says it wants "online technology platforms that provide unauthorized taxi services to be outlawed," to protect licensed carriers.
Uber says it is a ride-sharing service with transparent costs and its drivers pay taxes. It says some 250,000 clients have used its services in the Romanian capital and other major cities in the past two years.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-4446776/Hundreds-taxis-buses-park-outside-govt-protest-Uber.html
------------------------------------------
Mumbai/Bengaluru: A fall in incomes of taxi drivers who work with cab aggregators Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and Uber (Uber Technologies Inc.) have prompted some of India’s top banks to pull back on car loans to them and tweak underwriting norms.
In some cities, banks had stopped lending to Uber and Ola drivers as early as a year ago.
“We stopped giving car loans to drivers in Bengaluru last year. However, we remain invested in this segment of loans,” said Rajnish Kumar, managing director at State Bank of India, one of the largest disbursers of car loans.
“We continue to disburse loans in Hyderabad and Chennai after tweaking the underwriting standards,” added Kumar without revealing details of what SBI was doing to protect its loans.
SBI has advanced around Rs120 crore to drivers of these ride-hailing companies.
Tata Motors Finance Ltd, which has funded around 2,000 Ola and Uber vehicles, has also tightened its credit norms, said its managing director Shyam Mani. “Till March, Uber was covering up for losses beyond a certain level for these drivers. Since then, they have stopped this practice,” said Mani.
Now that this safety net is no longer there, firms are scrutinizing profiles of the drivers, the number of years of experience and their ability to pay back loans more closely, even as the rate of interest has not changed.
----------------------------------------
BERLIN — Gett confirmed on Wednesday that it has acquired rival taxi company Juno.
The deal is worth $200 million (£156 million), according to TechCrunch.
Juno is an Israel-based transportation app but its service is only available in New York City.
Acquiring Juno should help Gett, which is backed backed by $300 million (£233 million) from Volkswagen, to compete with larger companies like Uber and Lyft, specifically in New York City.
A source with links to the company that wishes to remain anonymous told Business Insider on Wednesday that Gett will initially pay $100 million (£77.9 million) for Juno and that it will involve mostly stock. A subsequent $100 million will be paid if certain targets are met, the source said.
"It's $100 million immediately and further funding up to another $100 million if they [Juno] achieve growth targets in other cities," said the source.
Founded in Israel in 2010, Gett employs over 1,000 people in Tel Aviv, the US, the UK, and Russia. All of the R&D, however, takes place in Israel. The company has raised over $500 million (£390 million), according to Crunchbase.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/gett-is-buying-juno-but-not-for-anywhere-near-250-million-2017-4
-----------------------------------
MELTHAM. WEST YORKS
A taxi driver has been jailed for six months for molesting a female passenger after driving her to Meltham.
Sentencing Shahzad Yousaf at Leeds Crown Court, Recorder Ben Nolan QC said there had to be an immediate jail term so the message could go out.
“Women must know that they can trust the driver of a taxi they get into late at night,” he said.
Yousaf, 44, of Moorbottom Road, Thornton Lodge, was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court of sexual assault on the teenager on January 3 last year.
He was ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years and barred from working as a taxi driver or private hire driver for five years.
The girl, who was 18 at the time, said he had driven her to Meltham after she had been on a night out with a friend in Huddersfield and then quoted her a fare of £9.50.
She told the jury she queried that saying she normally paid only £8 and Yousaf told her: “It would be cheaper if you give me a kiss.”
She said she refused and felt uneasy. She gave him the fare and as she went to get out he put his arms around her upper body and started kissing the side of her neck and cheek until she shrugged him off.
She told a friend she had “never felt so scared in her life” but was also angry about what had happened and subsequently reported it to the police.
She said in a victim impact statement: “I’m a lot more careful and aware of what I’m doing. I do not get a taxi on my own if I can avoid it unless I really have to.”
Yousaf denied he tried to kiss the girl and claimed she had tried to kiss him, an account which was rejected by the jury.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/taxi-driver-who-offered-reduce-12947923
-------------------------------------
GOA
An e-petition demanding that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar facilitate the entry of Ola and Uber cab services in Goa, one of the top tourism destinations in the country, has gone viral.
Tired of Goa's taxi mafia, an NRI of Goan origin Mahesh Sardesai has started the petition which has been signed by 3,839 supporters in a matter of a few hours.
The Canada-based techie in his petition has petitioned Parrikar, to allow Ola and Uber services in Goa to boost the coastal state's tourism economy, which Sardesai says is being choked by high-priced taxi services, scruffy taxi drivers, boost employment and ease traffic congestion.
"Tourism is the backbone of Goa's economy and tourists across the world and India are used to services like Ola and Uber, it's time to allow them to operate in Goa. Goan taxi drivers never use the taxi meters required by law and charge exorbitant rates for their services," Sardesai said in his petition uploaded on change.org.
A section of of Goa's 7,000 odd tourist taxis and the drivers who man them, have often been accused of over-charging, intimidating and operating in an unregulated environment.
Several attempts by the state government to install and implement a fare-meter system have failed, even as members of taxi lobby have also attacked tour coach buses ferrying foreign tourists, accusing tour operators of depriving them of business.
Some years back, a flare-up between a Russian travel operator and a local taxi owner resulted in the murder of the latter, sparking hostilities between locals and Russian tourists, who account for a large chunk of the half million foreign tourists who visit the state every year.
Ola taxi services were introduced in Goa in 2014, but were soon stopped by the state transport department following protests by local taxi operators.
Sardesai now wants Parrikar and elected representatives not to succumb to pressure from the taxi operator lobby this time round.
"We request that our elected representatives provide improved alternative which encourages innovation and competition instead of our broken taxi system and not to give in to the voice of taxi thugs looting tourists and Goans," the petition states.
The petition has found support from denizens of Goa as well as NRIs, tourists and even from the student community in Goa.
"I am a student of BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) Goa. We end up paying unreasonable prices even while travelling short distances. And because they have a monopoly we are left with no option. The competition will only benefit the common citizen," says Khyati Jain.
"Time to end the private taxi monopoly plaguing Goa! It's just ridiculous that the government is still putting up with this system in Goa and leaving people with no choice at all," says Delano Furtado, a Mumbai-based lawyer.
Goa is a major beach tourism destination in the country and attracts over four million tourists every year.
-----------------------------------------
Transport for London is spending £18m on upgrading the capital’s power grids to charge the first generation of battery-powered black cabs.
From 1 January 2018, all new black cabs will have to be battery-powered electric models by law as part of TfL’s effort to reduce toxic pollution from diesel engines.
The cash will pay for network reinforcements to enable British Gas owner Centrica and other energy companies to install 300 rapid electric car charging stations by 2020.
The charging point can top up a car’s battery within minutes, rather than the hours it takes for the city’s thousands of conventional electric vehicles.
An initial 75 fast chargers are due to be operational by the end of the year. While some of the sites will be exclusively for black cabs, the network will also be open to the increasing number of owners of Teslas, Nissan Leafs and electric BMWs in London.
Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of surface strategy and planning, said: “An extensive, rapid charging network is fundamental in helping drivers make the shift from fossil fuels to electric.”
The cost of installing the chargers will fall on the companies that won a TfL tender: Centrica, Bluepoint London, Chargemaster, Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board and Fastned from the Netherlands.
Pricing has not been announced, but the main existing network in the capital, Source London, would cost a Leaf driver £10.80 to fully top up with a rapid charger, plus a £4 monthly fee. TfL said the cost to drivers would be capped for the first two years.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association expects the first electric black cabs on London’s roads in September.
Cabbies with an existing taxi older than 10 years will be able to claim a payment from TfL of up to £5,000 later this year towards the cost of the new zero-emission taxis, which are being built at a factory in Coventry.
http://bit.ly/2oLspdI
----------------------------------------------
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Hundreds of taxi and bus drivers protested outside Romania's government offices on Wednesday to demand that Uber and other online ride service be outlawed.
Drivers parked some 200 taxis and buses outside the office buildings in the capital, disrupting transport in the already crowded city, and blew vuvuzela horns.
The protest, which had been planned to last all day, ended early after the government agreed to pass an ordinance within days better regulating taxi services.
Minister for Public Consultation and Social Dialogue Gabriel Petrea met with some of the protesters and the two sides signed a protocol where the government pledged to pass the ordinance within 30 days.
There were no details immediately available how Uber would be affected.
The Confederation of Licensed Transport Operators says it wants "online technology platforms that provide unauthorized taxi services to be outlawed," to protect licensed carriers.
Uber says it is a ride-sharing service with transparent costs and its drivers pay taxes. It says some 250,000 clients have used its services in the Romanian capital and other major cities in the past two years.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-4446776/Hundreds-taxis-buses-park-outside-govt-protest-Uber.html
------------------------------------------
Mumbai/Bengaluru: A fall in incomes of taxi drivers who work with cab aggregators Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and Uber (Uber Technologies Inc.) have prompted some of India’s top banks to pull back on car loans to them and tweak underwriting norms.
In some cities, banks had stopped lending to Uber and Ola drivers as early as a year ago.
“We stopped giving car loans to drivers in Bengaluru last year. However, we remain invested in this segment of loans,” said Rajnish Kumar, managing director at State Bank of India, one of the largest disbursers of car loans.
“We continue to disburse loans in Hyderabad and Chennai after tweaking the underwriting standards,” added Kumar without revealing details of what SBI was doing to protect its loans.
SBI has advanced around Rs120 crore to drivers of these ride-hailing companies.
Tata Motors Finance Ltd, which has funded around 2,000 Ola and Uber vehicles, has also tightened its credit norms, said its managing director Shyam Mani. “Till March, Uber was covering up for losses beyond a certain level for these drivers. Since then, they have stopped this practice,” said Mani.
Now that this safety net is no longer there, firms are scrutinizing profiles of the drivers, the number of years of experience and their ability to pay back loans more closely, even as the rate of interest has not changed.
----------------------------------------
BERLIN — Gett confirmed on Wednesday that it has acquired rival taxi company Juno.
The deal is worth $200 million (£156 million), according to TechCrunch.
Juno is an Israel-based transportation app but its service is only available in New York City.
Acquiring Juno should help Gett, which is backed backed by $300 million (£233 million) from Volkswagen, to compete with larger companies like Uber and Lyft, specifically in New York City.
A source with links to the company that wishes to remain anonymous told Business Insider on Wednesday that Gett will initially pay $100 million (£77.9 million) for Juno and that it will involve mostly stock. A subsequent $100 million will be paid if certain targets are met, the source said.
"It's $100 million immediately and further funding up to another $100 million if they [Juno] achieve growth targets in other cities," said the source.
Founded in Israel in 2010, Gett employs over 1,000 people in Tel Aviv, the US, the UK, and Russia. All of the R&D, however, takes place in Israel. The company has raised over $500 million (£390 million), according to Crunchbase.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/gett-is-buying-juno-but-not-for-anywhere-near-250-million-2017-4
-----------------------------------
MELTHAM. WEST YORKS
A taxi driver has been jailed for six months for molesting a female passenger after driving her to Meltham.
Sentencing Shahzad Yousaf at Leeds Crown Court, Recorder Ben Nolan QC said there had to be an immediate jail term so the message could go out.
“Women must know that they can trust the driver of a taxi they get into late at night,” he said.
Yousaf, 44, of Moorbottom Road, Thornton Lodge, was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court of sexual assault on the teenager on January 3 last year.
He was ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years and barred from working as a taxi driver or private hire driver for five years.
The girl, who was 18 at the time, said he had driven her to Meltham after she had been on a night out with a friend in Huddersfield and then quoted her a fare of £9.50.
She told the jury she queried that saying she normally paid only £8 and Yousaf told her: “It would be cheaper if you give me a kiss.”
She said she refused and felt uneasy. She gave him the fare and as she went to get out he put his arms around her upper body and started kissing the side of her neck and cheek until she shrugged him off.
She told a friend she had “never felt so scared in her life” but was also angry about what had happened and subsequently reported it to the police.
She said in a victim impact statement: “I’m a lot more careful and aware of what I’m doing. I do not get a taxi on my own if I can avoid it unless I really have to.”
Yousaf denied he tried to kiss the girl and claimed she had tried to kiss him, an account which was rejected by the jury.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/taxi-driver-who-offered-reduce-12947923
-------------------------------------
GOA
An e-petition demanding that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar facilitate the entry of Ola and Uber cab services in Goa, one of the top tourism destinations in the country, has gone viral.
Tired of Goa's taxi mafia, an NRI of Goan origin Mahesh Sardesai has started the petition which has been signed by 3,839 supporters in a matter of a few hours.
The Canada-based techie in his petition has petitioned Parrikar, to allow Ola and Uber services in Goa to boost the coastal state's tourism economy, which Sardesai says is being choked by high-priced taxi services, scruffy taxi drivers, boost employment and ease traffic congestion.
"Tourism is the backbone of Goa's economy and tourists across the world and India are used to services like Ola and Uber, it's time to allow them to operate in Goa. Goan taxi drivers never use the taxi meters required by law and charge exorbitant rates for their services," Sardesai said in his petition uploaded on change.org.
A section of of Goa's 7,000 odd tourist taxis and the drivers who man them, have often been accused of over-charging, intimidating and operating in an unregulated environment.
Several attempts by the state government to install and implement a fare-meter system have failed, even as members of taxi lobby have also attacked tour coach buses ferrying foreign tourists, accusing tour operators of depriving them of business.
Some years back, a flare-up between a Russian travel operator and a local taxi owner resulted in the murder of the latter, sparking hostilities between locals and Russian tourists, who account for a large chunk of the half million foreign tourists who visit the state every year.
Ola taxi services were introduced in Goa in 2014, but were soon stopped by the state transport department following protests by local taxi operators.
Sardesai now wants Parrikar and elected representatives not to succumb to pressure from the taxi operator lobby this time round.
"We request that our elected representatives provide improved alternative which encourages innovation and competition instead of our broken taxi system and not to give in to the voice of taxi thugs looting tourists and Goans," the petition states.
The petition has found support from denizens of Goa as well as NRIs, tourists and even from the student community in Goa.
"I am a student of BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) Goa. We end up paying unreasonable prices even while travelling short distances. And because they have a monopoly we are left with no option. The competition will only benefit the common citizen," says Khyati Jain.
"Time to end the private taxi monopoly plaguing Goa! It's just ridiculous that the government is still putting up with this system in Goa and leaving people with no choice at all," says Delano Furtado, a Mumbai-based lawyer.
Goa is a major beach tourism destination in the country and attracts over four million tourists every year.
-----------------------------------------
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Manchester Out of Area Vehicles, the story takes a twist.
The problem of out of town licensed vehicles work your area is currently the Trades, both hack and PH, biggest concern.
It is impossible (almost) to regulate this at the moment. Our Professional Hackney drivers are outraged and offended.
Manchester has a further complication, everything is on hold at the moment awaiting the outcome of the election next month.
We elect for the first time a new Mayor for all of the ten Authorities in the G.M area.
Devolution is expected to spread at some time to Licensed vehicle regulations. So at the moment nothing gets done.
Its frustrating and we all shout 'Foul'.
Wigan drivers Licensed in a Town hall 26 miles from our own, come to work here. probably in breach of their Insurance conditions.
We are right to be outraged.
Things predicably have changed. Mantax radio taxis, Manchester's only dedicated Hackney circuit have jumped on the bandwagon.
Mantax now offer an iHail service from anywhere in Greater Manchester. This is just as unlawful in my opinion as Uberk offering me a Wigan PH car in Didsbury.
How many Mantax drivers will forget the Uberk problem then, most of them I reckon.
The problem is worst for Manchester Hacks. Tradex are the main player in Hackney Insurance
They forbid you from taking hails outside your licensing area.
Mantax globalization also took another twist this week. When you ring the Landline with a driver inquiry or to book a Cab, if the call goes unanswered it is redirected to an Irish call centre.
God help us.
The problem of out of town licensed vehicles work your area is currently the Trades, both hack and PH, biggest concern.
It is impossible (almost) to regulate this at the moment. Our Professional Hackney drivers are outraged and offended.
Manchester has a further complication, everything is on hold at the moment awaiting the outcome of the election next month.
We elect for the first time a new Mayor for all of the ten Authorities in the G.M area.
Devolution is expected to spread at some time to Licensed vehicle regulations. So at the moment nothing gets done.
Its frustrating and we all shout 'Foul'.
Wigan drivers Licensed in a Town hall 26 miles from our own, come to work here. probably in breach of their Insurance conditions.
We are right to be outraged.
Things predicably have changed. Mantax radio taxis, Manchester's only dedicated Hackney circuit have jumped on the bandwagon.
Mantax now offer an iHail service from anywhere in Greater Manchester. This is just as unlawful in my opinion as Uberk offering me a Wigan PH car in Didsbury.
How many Mantax drivers will forget the Uberk problem then, most of them I reckon.
The problem is worst for Manchester Hacks. Tradex are the main player in Hackney Insurance
They forbid you from taking hails outside your licensing area.
Mantax globalization also took another twist this week. When you ring the Landline with a driver inquiry or to book a Cab, if the call goes unanswered it is redirected to an Irish call centre.
God help us.
Monday, 24 April 2017
UBERK Southend are operating unlawfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrUevq51yGE
U.S. ride-hailing app Uber told Europe’s top court on Monday that it was a digital service, not a transport service, and that a French law clearly targeted online taxi services, in its latest European legal battle with the taxi industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrUevq51yGE
Local authorities can use existing by-laws to control cross border menace says union. GMB, the union for private hire drivers, is writing to council leaders urging them to use exiting powers to put the brakes on ‘Wild West’ taxi regulation.
Local authorities can use current legislation to help end cross border menace blighting the industry. The Government deregulation bill has created a chaotic situation where some authorities are issuing licenses for taxis which then operate out of that jurisdiction.
In some cases this is taking place in areas where licenses have already been refused to those drivers. Recently in Southend, licenses were refused to some drivers who then went to TFL and obtained a license and are now operating in Southend – outside of TFL jurisdiction. Expert legal advice from GMB’s own law firm UnionLine says councils are able to create bylaws limiting those operating within councils to taxis registered in that county.
A consistent law nationwide would require legislation, but councils can control the situation until new laws are in place.
Steve Garelick, GMB Professional Drivers Branch Secretary, said: “The current situation is out of control – it’s like the Wild West – with drivers operating with impunity, wherever they like, thanks to woefully supine local authorities. But councils have the power the help end this cross border menace. We are writing to council leaders urging them to stamp out this dangerous practice, which undermines the reputation and good will earned by our hard-working members.”
----------------------------------
U.S. Supreme Court deals struggling taxi industry another blow
Chicago’s taxicab industry is likely to turn into a “Wild West” dominated by independent drivers, with fleets disappearing and the city losing control, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dealt the struggling industry a final flow.
By refusing to hear the taxi industry’s appeal, the nation’s highest court let stand a federal appeals court ruling last fall that snuffed out an attempt by the cab companies to level what they called an uneven playing field that favors Uber, whose investors include Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother.
The appeals court ruling essentially said that the business models between taxis and ride-hailing services are different and, therefore, they can continue to operate under different sets of rules in Chicago.
That decision validated a 2014 City Council ordinance that let Uber and Lyft operate in the city without taxi medallions, city-regulated fares, fingerprinting or other standards cab companies and their drivers must follow.
Mara Georges, the former longtime city corporation counsel now representing the taxicab industry, said Monday’s ruling could be a death blow for the cab industry as Chicagoans have come to know it.
“The fleets will disappear and you’ll have taxis owned by individual owners. The problem with that is that much of the control the city has exercised over taxicabs has come through the fleet,” Georges said.
“It’s going to end up being more of a Wild West situation where you’ve got all kinds of independent drivers out there just looking to pick up fares and make as much money as they can,” she said.
The only way to prevent that kind of free-for-all is to “level out the playing field” between ride-hailing and taxicabs, Georges said. That’s something the federal appeals court and, now, the U.S. Supreme Court said was legally unnecessary.
“A tremendously big step is to think about the fact that the public is not served when drivers are not fingerprinted and impose a fingerprinting requirement on everybody. All people who drive for hire. Not just some of the people who drive for hire,” Georges said.
The Washington D.C.-based Institute for Justice on Monday claimed victory in the name of passenger choice.
“The Court’s decision has cleared the way for transportation freedom across the country,” Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Anthony Sanders was quoted as saying in a press release.
“In city after city, we are seeing lawsuits like these filed by incumbent businesses that want to freeze the current regulatory environment in amber,” the release said. “And these lawsuits, rightly, are failing. Consumers and entrepreneurs, not lawyers and bureaucrats, should decide what transportation options are available.”
Uber and Lyft have long maintained that a background check based on FBI fingerprinting would discriminate against minorities who are “far more likely to have an interaction with the criminal justice system,” often for minor, nonviolent offenses where the charges are dropped but the record has not yet been expunged.
Last year, a divided City Council agreed to license, but not fingerprint, ride-hailing drivers amid threats from Uber and Lyft to abandon the Chicago market.
Under pressure from Emanuel, Transportation Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th) agreed to a compromise that would license all Uber and Lyft drivers after a daylong course that could be completed online and background checks performed by the companies with information shared with the city.
That compromise also stipulated there would be no fingerprinting for at least six months.
The hiatus would be used to appoint a commission charged with conducting an “independent study” of the value and fairness of fingerprinting. If the recommendation was to proceed with fingerprinting, Beale said it would be done. If not, fingerprinting would be eliminated as a requirement for all city employees, the chairman said.
Last month, Beale told the Chicago Sun-Times that the commission was poised to recommend that the city not adopt the requirement for Uber and Lyft drivers — and drop it for other categories of city employees.
In the landmark ruling last fall that went against the taxicab industry, Federal Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner likened the regulatory issues to cities that license dogs but not cats. He said treating Uber drivers like cabbies would effectively protect the taxi business from competition.
“Indeed, when new technologies or new business methods appear, a common result is the decline or even the disappearance of the old,” Posner wrote then.
“Were the old deemed to have a constitutional right to preclude the entry of the new into the markets of the old, economic progress might grind to a halt,” he said. “Instead of taxis, we might have horse and buggies; instead of the telephone, the telegraph; instead of computers, slide rules.
Obsolescence would equal entitlement.”
The sharply worded ruling followed Emanuel’s decision to authorize Uber and Lyft to start picking up customers at O’Hare and Midway airports and McCormick Place. Until then, such business had been reserved for taxis, with ride-hailing services allowed only to drop off fares.
In exchange for that lucrative access, Uber and other ride-hailing services pay a $5 surcharge every time they pick up or drop off passengers at O’Hare, Midway, McCormick Place or Navy Pier. The new tax is expected to generate $30 million. Cabs pay a $4 ground transportation tax, but only after airport pickups.
-----------------------------------
Uber and France battle in court over whether company is a taxi service
U.S. ride-hailing app Uber told Europe’s top court on Monday that it was a digital service, not a transport service, and that a French law clearly targeted online taxi services, in its latest European legal battle with the taxi industry.
Uber expanded into Europe five years ago and has come under attack from taxi companies who see it as unfair competition bypassing strict licensing and safety rules.
In a hearing in Europe’s top court in Luxembourg, the U.S. start-up described itself as a digital platform connecting willing passengers with drivers and said it does not itself provide a transport service, which would see it subjected to stricter rules.
Hugues Calvet, Uber’s lawyer, compared it to online hotel booking services like Booking.com, saying they did not actually provide the room.
“In fact it doesn’t give the transport service itself,” Calvet said.
The case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), referred to it by a court in Lille, concerns a 2014 French law on taxis and chauffeured services which makes it a criminal offence to organize illegal taxi services and sets restrictions on the use of software to find customers in the street.
Two of Uber’s executives in France were fined last year over UberPOP, Uber’s service using unlicensed drivers, which has since been suspended.
Uber, as well as the European Commission, also argued that the French law targeted electronically provided taxi services and therefore Brussels ought to have been notified about it. EU law requires that Brussels be informed of measures relating to online services.
France did not notify Brussels of its law and as such criminal penalties cannot be enforced against Uber, the company argued.
It is the second case concerning Uber that the Luxembourg judges will rule on, the other being a dispute with Barcelona’s main taxi operator in which the ECJ is asked whether Uber is a digital service or a transport service.
“Pretty big nut”
The legal tests stand to define whether the Silicon Valley company has a future in Europe after years of battles with city regulators and local taxi associations. Its service has been banned in several countries or cities around Europe after the company lost lawsuits in France, Germany, Belgium and Spain.
The court battles come as Uber struggles with a wave of executive departures and criticism of its work culture.
Referring to the penalties foreseen in the French law, Calvet said a “sledgehammer has been used to crack a nut.”
Tayeb Ismi-Nedjadi, a lawyer for the French public prosecutor, replied that Uber was no small company, so “when we’re talking about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, we’re talking about a pretty big nut.”
Uber is valued at $68 billion and its investors include Goldman Sachs and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures.
France said its law was not aimed at online services and would also have targeted people meeting travelers at airports and touting illegal taxi rides.
Joanna Hottiaux, a lawyer for the European Commission, said it was hard to imagine that people touting illegal taxi services could be so widespread as to require specific legislation.
An ECJ adviser will give a non-binding opinion on the case on July 4.
The case is C-320/16.
Saturday, 22 April 2017
The Times Saturday 22 April
The head of a criminal gang who ran a chauffeur company for first and business-class passengers of Emirates Airlines was jailed for three years yesterday for his role in a serious fraud.
John Murphy, 68, was in charge of a conspiracy to “clock” cars at Professional Chauffeur Services (PCS), Liverpool crown court was told.
An investigation by Trading Standards revealed that Murphy and four other conspirators had wiped more than seven million miles off the odometers of about 100 chauffeur vehicles.
The cars were then sold on to unsuspecting dealers and motorists for a huge profit. The fraud was worth an agreed figure of £250,000 but the prosecution suggested that the real figure was nearer £1 million.
Murphy has convictions for offences including obtaining property by deception, tax evasion and drink-driving. This month The Times revealed that Emirates was aware of the criminality but refused to cancel a multimillion-pound contract with the company.
After the convictions, Transport for London revoked PCS’s licence, and Liverpool Football Club stopped using the company. PCS maintains an operator’s licence with Halton and Cheshire West councils.
Judge Brian Cummings, QC, told Murphy: “You played a leading role in the conspiracy over a sustained period of time and there were a large number of victims.”
Emirates said all vehicles “must respect local regulations, meet our high-quality standards and be less than two years old. Should PCS fail to meet these requirements, Emirates will take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.”
Murphy is appealing against his conviction. Trading Standards is conducting a corporate prosecution against PCS. The trial will begin in November.
This article is subject of a legal complaint from John Murphy
http://bit.ly/2oxRb1G
The head of a criminal gang who ran a chauffeur company for first and business-class passengers of Emirates Airlines was jailed for three years yesterday for his role in a serious fraud.
John Murphy, 68, was in charge of a conspiracy to “clock” cars at Professional Chauffeur Services (PCS), Liverpool crown court was told.
An investigation by Trading Standards revealed that Murphy and four other conspirators had wiped more than seven million miles off the odometers of about 100 chauffeur vehicles.
The cars were then sold on to unsuspecting dealers and motorists for a huge profit. The fraud was worth an agreed figure of £250,000 but the prosecution suggested that the real figure was nearer £1 million.
Murphy has convictions for offences including obtaining property by deception, tax evasion and drink-driving. This month The Times revealed that Emirates was aware of the criminality but refused to cancel a multimillion-pound contract with the company.
After the convictions, Transport for London revoked PCS’s licence, and Liverpool Football Club stopped using the company. PCS maintains an operator’s licence with Halton and Cheshire West councils.
Judge Brian Cummings, QC, told Murphy: “You played a leading role in the conspiracy over a sustained period of time and there were a large number of victims.”
Emirates said all vehicles “must respect local regulations, meet our high-quality standards and be less than two years old. Should PCS fail to meet these requirements, Emirates will take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.”
Murphy is appealing against his conviction. Trading Standards is conducting a corporate prosecution against PCS. The trial will begin in November.
This article is subject of a legal complaint from John Murphy
http://bit.ly/2oxRb1G
Friday, 21 April 2017
LIVERPOOL CROWN COURT TODAY
Emirates Airways Prestigious Transport Providers were sent down the steps today.
It did not seem to halt business to much, as the Boss of the crooks and his accomplices were waiting for the Prison Van to take them to lunch at HMP Walton, another seven TfL PH Cars of this Company were awaiting the Emirates flight arrival here in Manchester.
The authorities in both MCR and London have been notified, but none have bothered replying.
The additional aggravating feature of these vehicles at Manchester today is that they are TFL registered, BUT, TfL revoked the Operating Licenses of PCS Events Croydon and Lewisham upon the Convictions for fraud in March this year.
These vehicles without an operator in London, are working unlawfully and without Insurance.
Emirates Airways Prestigious Transport Providers were sent down the steps today.
It did not seem to halt business to much, as the Boss of the crooks and his accomplices were waiting for the Prison Van to take them to lunch at HMP Walton, another seven TfL PH Cars of this Company were awaiting the Emirates flight arrival here in Manchester.
The authorities in both MCR and London have been notified, but none have bothered replying.
The additional aggravating feature of these vehicles at Manchester today is that they are TFL registered, BUT, TfL revoked the Operating Licenses of PCS Events Croydon and Lewisham upon the Convictions for fraud in March this year.
These vehicles without an operator in London, are working unlawfully and without Insurance.
LTU the group who uncovered this fraud have work for around two years to get this result, so a big thank you to them.
The Times and LTU have worked together on this for nearly a year...so I would, respectfully suggest
that a Nicker or two buying the Times tomorrow and Sunday will not go amiss.
Todays PCS Events Vehicles at MCR Airport.
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
New lawsuit seeks to overturn Ottawa's Uber bylaw
The union representing taxi drivers in Ottawa is accusing the city of acting in bad faith and misleading the industry when it brought in legislation last year legalizing companies like Uber, according to a lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court last week.
It's been almost exactly one year since Ottawa city council passed new "vehicle-for-hire regulations" — the first jurisdiction in Ontario to do so — to bring ride-hailing services like Uber in line with the city's taxi bylaws.
Companies must obtain a licence from the city to operate, but unlike taxi plate owners, individual Uber driver don't have to pay an annual fee.
The union's lawsuit alleges the new rules put traditional cab drivers at a disadvantage, arguing that over a three-month period during which so-called private transportation companies (PTCs) provided 1.4 million rides in Ottawa, "80 per cent of these fares represent[ed] fares taken from taxicab drivers.
"The city has also slanted the playing field in favour of PTC drivers, without considering the effect on the economic interests and livelihoods of taxi drivers," reads the court document.
"Taxicab drivers were promised that regardless of what actions the city took, results would be a 'level playing field' for all parities concerned.... However, the exact opposite resulted from the city's taxi review."
Unifor Local 1688 president Pierre Nakhle, a taxi driver himself, and vice-president Nega Haile, also a driver, filed the lawsuit, which argues the market has been flooded with an unlimited number of unlicensed vehicles and drivers.
They say taxi drivers weren't given adequate notice of the city's plans.
An anti-Uber sign is posted on an Ottawa Blueline taxi during a protest at City Hall on Sept. 16, 2015. (Alistair Steele/CBC)
"The city demonstrated a closed mind and unwillingness to properly notify, consult with and consider in an even-handed, good faith manner, the direct consequences, and in particular, the commercial effect of its proposed changes to the taxi scheme in the City of Ottawa," the lawsuit alleges.
The applicants are asking the court to quash the bylaw. They aren't asking for any monetary reward beyond the costs of the application.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21.
It's not the only lawsuit against the city regarding its bylaw changes.
In August the taxi industry filed an uncertified class-action lawsuit for $215 million against the City of Ottawa over the new rules.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/taxi-union-bylaw-court-1.4073984
-------------------------------------------
The union representing taxi drivers in Ottawa is accusing the city of acting in bad faith and misleading the industry when it brought in legislation last year legalizing companies like Uber, according to a lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court last week.
It's been almost exactly one year since Ottawa city council passed new "vehicle-for-hire regulations" — the first jurisdiction in Ontario to do so — to bring ride-hailing services like Uber in line with the city's taxi bylaws.
Companies must obtain a licence from the city to operate, but unlike taxi plate owners, individual Uber driver don't have to pay an annual fee.
The union's lawsuit alleges the new rules put traditional cab drivers at a disadvantage, arguing that over a three-month period during which so-called private transportation companies (PTCs) provided 1.4 million rides in Ottawa, "80 per cent of these fares represent[ed] fares taken from taxicab drivers.
"The city has also slanted the playing field in favour of PTC drivers, without considering the effect on the economic interests and livelihoods of taxi drivers," reads the court document.
"Taxicab drivers were promised that regardless of what actions the city took, results would be a 'level playing field' for all parities concerned.... However, the exact opposite resulted from the city's taxi review."
Unifor Local 1688 president Pierre Nakhle, a taxi driver himself, and vice-president Nega Haile, also a driver, filed the lawsuit, which argues the market has been flooded with an unlimited number of unlicensed vehicles and drivers.
They say taxi drivers weren't given adequate notice of the city's plans.
An anti-Uber sign is posted on an Ottawa Blueline taxi during a protest at City Hall on Sept. 16, 2015. (Alistair Steele/CBC)
"The city demonstrated a closed mind and unwillingness to properly notify, consult with and consider in an even-handed, good faith manner, the direct consequences, and in particular, the commercial effect of its proposed changes to the taxi scheme in the City of Ottawa," the lawsuit alleges.
The applicants are asking the court to quash the bylaw. They aren't asking for any monetary reward beyond the costs of the application.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21.
It's not the only lawsuit against the city regarding its bylaw changes.
In August the taxi industry filed an uncertified class-action lawsuit for $215 million against the City of Ottawa over the new rules.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/taxi-union-bylaw-court-1.4073984
-------------------------------------------
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday permanently restrained two taxi drivers’ unions from interfering in services offered by taxi aggregators Ola and Uber in the national capital region.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw passed the order after being informed of an unsuccessful attempt at mediation with the two unions—Sarvodaya Driver Association and Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union—that were alleged to have disrupted services of taxi aggregators who did not wish to participate in a February strike for higher fares and other incentives.
The court also reiterated its earlier order restraining the drivers unions from staging any protest within 500 metres from the office premises of Ola and Uber in the future.
The court was hearing pleas by ride hailing companies ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs Ola, and Uber who had alleged that the unions were disrupting services of taxi drivers who did not join the February strike.
Ola claimed that striking drivers had blocked their cabs, pulled out drivers and removed the mobile devices installed in them.
In February, in an interim order, the court granted relief to Uber and Ola by restraining anyone, including the two drivers’ unions, from interfering in the operations or hampering the services of the taxi aggregators.
The court also restrained the unions or anyone acting on their behalf from removing or confiscating the mobile devices installed in the cabs run by Ola and Uber.
On 17 February, in an attempt to resolve the taxi strike, the court ordered an authorised signatory from Ola and Uber to hold a meeting with Sarvodaya Driver Association.
Several unions and thousands of drivers were on strike since 10 February in the National Capital Region against app-based aggregators, demanding an increase in fares from the existing Rs6 per km and also discontinuation of the 25% commission app-based aggregators charge on every booking. The unions also demanded an immediate end to ride sharing services and a hike in per kilometre rates.
A second strike by taxi unions and drivers of taxi aggregators including Uber and Ola is expected on Monday in the capital in a bid to press demands such as low fares and long working hours.
---------------------------------------------
BIRMINGHAM
A teenager behind a series of armed attacks on taxi drivers in Birmingham has been sentenced to 10 years in a youth offenders institution.
Mohammed Abdurahman,19, booked cabs under false names before ambushing drivers alongside accomplices, demanding cash and personal belonging.
Police say he was behind three robberies in Bartley Green between October and December last year.
He sprayed one victim with CS gas and threatened another with a 12-inch knife in one ordeal.
He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after admitting to robbery, kidnapping and having offensive weapons.
----------------------------------------------------
Dundee taxi drivers who have not yet signed up to complete a compulsory training course could be in danger of losing their job, the city’s taxi association chief has warned.
Three years ago, Dundee City Council declared it essential for all taxi drivers in the city to complete an SVQ training course in order to retain their licences.
There were previously concerns that drivers were not taking the new policy seriously or that it would not be implemented.
However, with the deadline for courses to be completed before May 31, Graeme Steven, of Dundee Taxi Association, said those who have not signed up for a course and intend to keep working could lose their licence — or end up paying much more to keep it.
He said: “If anyone has not signed up to do the course out of stubbornness, then it is just stupid, really. It will cost a lot more in the long run. It’s a real possibility that drivers could lose their job.
“It’s not as if we are the only industry in which you have to make sure you’re qualified.
“There are lots of industries where you need a certificate and a few hundred pounds isn’t that big a price to pay.”
Unite the Union has been running a version of the course, which takes three months to complete and costs £400.
Drivers have also had the option to pay £375 for the Dundee and Angus College fast-track course, which takes only two weeks to complete. A £200 subsidy has been available to mitigate the costs of the courses, which will no longer be offered after May.
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) will move forward with a proposal to require any car services that accept payment exclusively via credit card to offer a tipping option via the same means, the New York Times reported Monday. The proposal seems designed mostly to force Uber’s hand, requiring the ride hailing service to offer an in-app tipping option, something it’s been reluctant to introduce thus far.
The TLC’s announced proposal will be just an initial step towards implementing the rule, and would still require formal introduction sometime within the next few months, and then a public hearing soliciting feedback from members of the community, and then a vote to decide whether to implement or reject the proposal.
The new proposed new rule comes after the Independent Drivers Guild (IDG), a group that represents Uber drivers in the city, put forward a petition and received over 11,000 signatures supporting the implementation of an in-app tipping option. Under the proposed rules, anyone exclusively accepting cash would be able to continue accepting cash tips and not required to offer a card-based tipping method.
IDG founder Jim Conigliaro, Jr. provided the following statement regarding the TLC’s proposal:
Today’s decision is a vitally important step forward for drivers. In-app tipping will mean a raise of hundreds of millions of dollars for New York City drivers each year. Drivers have long been denied access to the kinds of benefits and labor protections many workers take for granted, such as paid sick leave or the minimum wage. As a result, New York City’s professional drivers have traditionally depended on gratuities for a substantial portion of their income. Cuts to driver pay across the ride-hail industry has made tipping income more important than ever,
Uber, when contacted, offering this comment via a spokesperson regarding the potential new rule:
We have not seen the proposal and look forward to reviewing it. Uber is always striving to offer the best earning opportunity for drivers and we are constantly working to improve the driver experience. That’s why, in New York City, we partnered with the Machinists Union to make sure current and future Uber NYC drivers have a stronger voice and launched a series of new tools and support policies for drivers.
http://tcrn.ch/2oHeLLM
------------------------------------------
Taxi drivers in the Ely area could be made to dress smarter for work if a new policy is put into place by East Cambs District Council.
The idea is part of an overhaul of what is called the ‘blue book’ - a bible of do’s and dont’s for drivers with a hackney carriage license in the area.
Stewart Broome, senior licensing officer at East Cambs, said: “Although this blue book has been updated from time to time it is felt that it no longer reflects the modern taxi industry.”
He said it: “Needs to be redrafted in order to prove a robust document which ensures transparency, consistency and above all else promotes public safety and a professional taxi service in the district.”
Ideas for change include:
• Building on an existing dress code.
• Improving safeguarding so drivers join an annual updating service. The current DBS checks are only provided every three years.
• Driver medicals every three years. The current system asks for a medical on application then nothing until the age of 45. Then every five years until the age of 65 when it switches to annual medicals.
• Allowing any GP to carry out medicals.
• Allowing novelty vehicles like fire engines, army vehicles and tuk tuk rickshaws to register.
• Introducing new standards of appearance conditions for vehicles.
Changes which will make it easier for taxi drivers include:
• Vehicle testing to be amended to every year up to the sixth anniversary of the vehicle and not the third.
Mr Broome said: “The taxi trade as a whole accounts for around 40 to 45 per cent of the licensing department’s resources.
“At any given time there are in the region of 350 live records which need maintaining and a dozen new applications going through the system.
“A clear and concise policy is essential to ensure the smooth running of this area of licensing.”
The suggestions aim to strike a balance that will be of benefit to the trade, the public and the council he added.
In a meeting of East Cambs licensing committee on Wednesdayy April 19 members will be asked to approve a 12 week public consultation on the proposed changes.
http://bit.ly/2oojHSh
--------------------------------------------
The TLC’s announced proposal will be just an initial step towards implementing the rule, and would still require formal introduction sometime within the next few months, and then a public hearing soliciting feedback from members of the community, and then a vote to decide whether to implement or reject the proposal.
The new proposed new rule comes after the Independent Drivers Guild (IDG), a group that represents Uber drivers in the city, put forward a petition and received over 11,000 signatures supporting the implementation of an in-app tipping option. Under the proposed rules, anyone exclusively accepting cash would be able to continue accepting cash tips and not required to offer a card-based tipping method.
IDG founder Jim Conigliaro, Jr. provided the following statement regarding the TLC’s proposal:
Today’s decision is a vitally important step forward for drivers. In-app tipping will mean a raise of hundreds of millions of dollars for New York City drivers each year. Drivers have long been denied access to the kinds of benefits and labor protections many workers take for granted, such as paid sick leave or the minimum wage. As a result, New York City’s professional drivers have traditionally depended on gratuities for a substantial portion of their income. Cuts to driver pay across the ride-hail industry has made tipping income more important than ever,
Uber, when contacted, offering this comment via a spokesperson regarding the potential new rule:
We have not seen the proposal and look forward to reviewing it. Uber is always striving to offer the best earning opportunity for drivers and we are constantly working to improve the driver experience. That’s why, in New York City, we partnered with the Machinists Union to make sure current and future Uber NYC drivers have a stronger voice and launched a series of new tools and support policies for drivers.
http://tcrn.ch/2oHeLLM
------------------------------------------
Taxi drivers in the Ely area could be made to dress smarter for work if a new policy is put into place by East Cambs District Council.
The idea is part of an overhaul of what is called the ‘blue book’ - a bible of do’s and dont’s for drivers with a hackney carriage license in the area.
Stewart Broome, senior licensing officer at East Cambs, said: “Although this blue book has been updated from time to time it is felt that it no longer reflects the modern taxi industry.”
He said it: “Needs to be redrafted in order to prove a robust document which ensures transparency, consistency and above all else promotes public safety and a professional taxi service in the district.”
Ideas for change include:
• Building on an existing dress code.
• Improving safeguarding so drivers join an annual updating service. The current DBS checks are only provided every three years.
• Driver medicals every three years. The current system asks for a medical on application then nothing until the age of 45. Then every five years until the age of 65 when it switches to annual medicals.
• Allowing any GP to carry out medicals.
• Allowing novelty vehicles like fire engines, army vehicles and tuk tuk rickshaws to register.
• Introducing new standards of appearance conditions for vehicles.
Changes which will make it easier for taxi drivers include:
• Vehicle testing to be amended to every year up to the sixth anniversary of the vehicle and not the third.
Mr Broome said: “The taxi trade as a whole accounts for around 40 to 45 per cent of the licensing department’s resources.
“At any given time there are in the region of 350 live records which need maintaining and a dozen new applications going through the system.
“A clear and concise policy is essential to ensure the smooth running of this area of licensing.”
The suggestions aim to strike a balance that will be of benefit to the trade, the public and the council he added.
In a meeting of East Cambs licensing committee on Wednesdayy April 19 members will be asked to approve a 12 week public consultation on the proposed changes.
http://bit.ly/2oojHSh
--------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Daily Mail 13 April.
When Uber hired Rachel Whetstone, less than two years ago, it wasn’t just getting a new PR chief.
Instead, for a sum rumoured to exceed £1 million a year, the Silicon Valley firm was obtaining the services of a woman with excellent political connections.
For Whetstone was the wife of Cameron’s confidant and former policy guru Steve Hilton, as well as godmother of his late son Ivan.
She’d also been a key member of his inner circle since the early Nineties.
Now 49, the charismatic political fixer first met the future PM while they worked together (alongside a young George Osborne) at Conservative HQ.
Later, she became political secretary to Michael Howard, the then Tory leader, regarded as Cameron’s early mentor.
By the time the man she calls ‘Dave’ became PM, their families were virtually joined at the hip.
Indeed, Whetstone and Hilton often spent weekends at their £1.2 million Oxfordshire farmhouse, seven miles from the PM’s constituency home, where they’d meet Dave and his wife Samantha and go for pub lunches or load their two kids into a fashionably-battered Volvo, and pop round to have pizza and red wine with their powerful chums.
The appearance given by this cosy relationship may have raised concerns considering the extraordinary — and unprecedented — level of access enjoyed by Whetstone’s then employer, Google.
Senior executives of the trendy U.S. search engine met with Tory ministers on average once a month during Cameron’s first four years as PM, according to Freedom of Information disclosures. This included three encounters with Cameron himself and four with Osborne.
Whetstone first met the future PM while they worked together (alongside a young George Osborne) at Conservative HQ
So astonishing was Google’s hold on the PM’s affections that senior Tory peer Lord Younger (the minister in charge of intellectual property) once complained that the company’s ‘power’ was such that ‘they have access to higher levels than me in No 10’.
There was perhaps further cause for raised eyebrows when, despite public concern over Google’s business practices, Cameron and Osborne did next to nothing while in power to regulate the firm, to curb its vigorous tax-dodging, or to suggest laws that might leave it vulnerable to copyright lawsuits.
Fast forward to May 2015, and Uber — which runs a smartphone app that allows users to hail a minicab at the touch of a button — found itself in need of a helping hand.
The fast-growing Californian company was facing a number of moves to curb its growing domination of the British taxi market.
It stood accused, among other things, of driving traditional cabbies out of business, and clogging London’s streets with extra cars, polluting the air and making the city centre more congested than at any time in its modern history.
Rape or assault claims were being made against its drivers at a rate of one every 11 days, while it also appeared to be flouting a number of rules governing the heavily-regulated taxi industry.
Whetstone (left) also became political secretary to Michael Howard, the then Tory leader, regarded as Cameron’s early mentor
In September 2015, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was under pressure from the capital’s black cab drivers and he decided to launch a review of taxi regulations.
Initially, he claimed he was considering several new policies to curb Uber’s aggressive business model.
These included limiting the total number of minicabs in the city, requiring all drivers to pass an English language test (many Uber operators are foreign-born), and requiring taxis to wait at least five minutes between accepting a booking and picking up a customer, rendering the internet firm (which fulfils orders in an average of three minutes) significantly less attractive to clients.
Uber was outraged, launching a public petition against what it called the ‘bureaucratic’ proposals.
In an extraordinary, unprecedented and quite unethical secret lobbying campaign, revealed by the Mail last month, both Cameron and Osborne decided to personally contact Johnson, ordering him to drop any policy which might upset their friend’s internet firm.
‘There were conversations, mainly in text messages from Dave and George, making arguments about free markets and competition,’ mayoral officials later admitted to the Financial Times.
Senior No 10 aide Daniel Korski was assigned to lead secret talks between the mayor, his staff and a range of ministers and Downing Street figures aimed at protecting Uber. He orchestrated meetings in October and November, according to emails obtained by the Mail under the Freedom of Information Act.
He also had a number of ‘abrasive’ disputes with Isabel Dedring, Johnson’s deputy mayor in charge of transport (and a key Uber sceptic) who, say friends, was ‘quite taken aback by his aggression’.
Quite why Downing Street thought this activity appropriate is anyone’s guess. Uber, after all, pays almost no UK tax, using creative accountants to funnel its earnings to Bermuda via a so-called ‘double Dutch’ structure, meaning it legally avoids paying its fair share for the roads its services rely on.
It has only around 100 employees in Britain, while many of its tens of thousands of drivers (who are in theory independent contractors) earn so little they have to rely on tax credits, placing further burden on the Exchequer.
And what’s more, since transport policy in London is devolved entirely to the mayor, the city’s private hire regulations are, in theory, nothing to do with No 10.
In September 2015, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was under pressure from the capital’s black cab drivers and he decided to launch a review of taxi regulations
Nonetheless, in what could have given the appearance of a stark illustration of the so-called ‘chumocracy’ at the heart of Cameron’s administration, the lobbying campaign continued.
It culminated in a December 16 showdown between Johnson, Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Korski, at which an official note, again released under Freedom of Information laws, records that ‘different views were exchanged’.
Then, on December 22, 2015, Cameron, Osborne and their wives attended Whetstone’s lavish Christmas party, at an exclusive Mayfair sushi restaurant called Sexy Fish.
Also at the intimate soiree was Tim Allan, head of Portland, a lobbying firm retained by Uber.
A few days later and — hey presto! — Boris Johnson caved in.
Early in January last year, in what newspaper headlines described as a ‘major victory’ for Uber, he decided to drop almost all the proposals the Californian firm had disliked because, as he put it, ‘we can’t turn our back on technological progress’.
Uber was, of course, delighted.
However, traditional cabbies, who believe the loss-making firm is deliberately charging low fares in order to drive rivals out of business and establish a monopoly, were dismayed, holding a protest in Westminster days later.
Then came a second extraordinary twist. Early last year, Christopher Morris, a Lib Dem aide working at the London Assembly, got wind of the secret lobbying campaign by Downing Street, and filed a Freedom of Information request with Downing Street asking to see copies of ‘all correspondence’ over the previous year between Korski and either Johnson’s office or Transport for London [TfL].
In response, Nicholas Howard, the PM’s assistant private secretary, sent him a letter saying: ‘We do not hold information in relation to your request.’
However, Morris had also asked TfL if it held any ‘correspondence’ from Korski.
It gave a very different response, passing on a dossier of relevant messages, including three that the Downing Street aide had written to TfL staff in October 2015 and four that were sent to him from TfL email accounts at the same time.
In other words, as the Daily Mail again revealed last month, Downing Street’s apparent claim that such emails didn’t exist turned out to be completely untrue.
While No 10 has denied wrongdoing, the Information Commission is now looking into the potential cover-up, revealing yesterday that it has now contacted Downing Street and is seeking to establish whether officials broke the Freedom of Information Act.
A growing number of MPs, including Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, are calling for a full parliamentary inquiry to establish the full extent of the lobbying campaign on behalf of Uber by Cameron and Osborne
Meanwhile, a growing number of MPs, including Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, are calling for a full parliamentary inquiry to establish the full extent of the lobbying campaign on behalf of Uber by Cameron and Osborne — who, it should be noted, has now taken a £650,000-a-year part-time job with one of Uber’s major investors, the U.S. firm BlackRock.
As for Whetstone, a number of factors are said to be at play in her decision to quit yesterday, including the PR disasters to have affected Uber in recent months and her relationship with the firm’s abrasive billionaire boss, Travis Kalanick, which is said to be fractious.
Surely playing a prominent role, however, are the questions raised by her links to Cameron and Osborne in light of their lobbying campaign — leading to the allegation that they granted her special favours.
For the Mail’s recent disclosures mean that she herself has ‘become the story’, as the old saying goes, thereby breaking the oldest rule in the public relations book.
Uber, for its part, may feel that Whetstone’s departure can potentially limit future damage from what is now a serious and growing political scandal.
Perhaps, more to the point, the Silicon Valley firm also feels that Rachel Whetstone has outlived her political usefulness.
For now that Cameron is no longer PM, this rapacious internet giant no longer benefits from having the best mate of the country’s leader on its payroll.
When Uber hired Rachel Whetstone, less than two years ago, it wasn’t just getting a new PR chief.
Instead, for a sum rumoured to exceed £1 million a year, the Silicon Valley firm was obtaining the services of a woman with excellent political connections.
For Whetstone was the wife of Cameron’s confidant and former policy guru Steve Hilton, as well as godmother of his late son Ivan.
She’d also been a key member of his inner circle since the early Nineties.
Now 49, the charismatic political fixer first met the future PM while they worked together (alongside a young George Osborne) at Conservative HQ.
Later, she became political secretary to Michael Howard, the then Tory leader, regarded as Cameron’s early mentor.
By the time the man she calls ‘Dave’ became PM, their families were virtually joined at the hip.
Indeed, Whetstone and Hilton often spent weekends at their £1.2 million Oxfordshire farmhouse, seven miles from the PM’s constituency home, where they’d meet Dave and his wife Samantha and go for pub lunches or load their two kids into a fashionably-battered Volvo, and pop round to have pizza and red wine with their powerful chums.
The appearance given by this cosy relationship may have raised concerns considering the extraordinary — and unprecedented — level of access enjoyed by Whetstone’s then employer, Google.
Senior executives of the trendy U.S. search engine met with Tory ministers on average once a month during Cameron’s first four years as PM, according to Freedom of Information disclosures. This included three encounters with Cameron himself and four with Osborne.
Whetstone first met the future PM while they worked together (alongside a young George Osborne) at Conservative HQ
So astonishing was Google’s hold on the PM’s affections that senior Tory peer Lord Younger (the minister in charge of intellectual property) once complained that the company’s ‘power’ was such that ‘they have access to higher levels than me in No 10’.
There was perhaps further cause for raised eyebrows when, despite public concern over Google’s business practices, Cameron and Osborne did next to nothing while in power to regulate the firm, to curb its vigorous tax-dodging, or to suggest laws that might leave it vulnerable to copyright lawsuits.
Fast forward to May 2015, and Uber — which runs a smartphone app that allows users to hail a minicab at the touch of a button — found itself in need of a helping hand.
The fast-growing Californian company was facing a number of moves to curb its growing domination of the British taxi market.
It stood accused, among other things, of driving traditional cabbies out of business, and clogging London’s streets with extra cars, polluting the air and making the city centre more congested than at any time in its modern history.
Rape or assault claims were being made against its drivers at a rate of one every 11 days, while it also appeared to be flouting a number of rules governing the heavily-regulated taxi industry.
Whetstone (left) also became political secretary to Michael Howard, the then Tory leader, regarded as Cameron’s early mentor
In September 2015, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was under pressure from the capital’s black cab drivers and he decided to launch a review of taxi regulations.
Initially, he claimed he was considering several new policies to curb Uber’s aggressive business model.
These included limiting the total number of minicabs in the city, requiring all drivers to pass an English language test (many Uber operators are foreign-born), and requiring taxis to wait at least five minutes between accepting a booking and picking up a customer, rendering the internet firm (which fulfils orders in an average of three minutes) significantly less attractive to clients.
Uber was outraged, launching a public petition against what it called the ‘bureaucratic’ proposals.
In an extraordinary, unprecedented and quite unethical secret lobbying campaign, revealed by the Mail last month, both Cameron and Osborne decided to personally contact Johnson, ordering him to drop any policy which might upset their friend’s internet firm.
‘There were conversations, mainly in text messages from Dave and George, making arguments about free markets and competition,’ mayoral officials later admitted to the Financial Times.
Senior No 10 aide Daniel Korski was assigned to lead secret talks between the mayor, his staff and a range of ministers and Downing Street figures aimed at protecting Uber. He orchestrated meetings in October and November, according to emails obtained by the Mail under the Freedom of Information Act.
He also had a number of ‘abrasive’ disputes with Isabel Dedring, Johnson’s deputy mayor in charge of transport (and a key Uber sceptic) who, say friends, was ‘quite taken aback by his aggression’.
Quite why Downing Street thought this activity appropriate is anyone’s guess. Uber, after all, pays almost no UK tax, using creative accountants to funnel its earnings to Bermuda via a so-called ‘double Dutch’ structure, meaning it legally avoids paying its fair share for the roads its services rely on.
It has only around 100 employees in Britain, while many of its tens of thousands of drivers (who are in theory independent contractors) earn so little they have to rely on tax credits, placing further burden on the Exchequer.
And what’s more, since transport policy in London is devolved entirely to the mayor, the city’s private hire regulations are, in theory, nothing to do with No 10.
In September 2015, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was under pressure from the capital’s black cab drivers and he decided to launch a review of taxi regulations
Nonetheless, in what could have given the appearance of a stark illustration of the so-called ‘chumocracy’ at the heart of Cameron’s administration, the lobbying campaign continued.
It culminated in a December 16 showdown between Johnson, Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Korski, at which an official note, again released under Freedom of Information laws, records that ‘different views were exchanged’.
Then, on December 22, 2015, Cameron, Osborne and their wives attended Whetstone’s lavish Christmas party, at an exclusive Mayfair sushi restaurant called Sexy Fish.
Also at the intimate soiree was Tim Allan, head of Portland, a lobbying firm retained by Uber.
A few days later and — hey presto! — Boris Johnson caved in.
Early in January last year, in what newspaper headlines described as a ‘major victory’ for Uber, he decided to drop almost all the proposals the Californian firm had disliked because, as he put it, ‘we can’t turn our back on technological progress’.
Uber was, of course, delighted.
However, traditional cabbies, who believe the loss-making firm is deliberately charging low fares in order to drive rivals out of business and establish a monopoly, were dismayed, holding a protest in Westminster days later.
Then came a second extraordinary twist. Early last year, Christopher Morris, a Lib Dem aide working at the London Assembly, got wind of the secret lobbying campaign by Downing Street, and filed a Freedom of Information request with Downing Street asking to see copies of ‘all correspondence’ over the previous year between Korski and either Johnson’s office or Transport for London [TfL].
In response, Nicholas Howard, the PM’s assistant private secretary, sent him a letter saying: ‘We do not hold information in relation to your request.’
However, Morris had also asked TfL if it held any ‘correspondence’ from Korski.
It gave a very different response, passing on a dossier of relevant messages, including three that the Downing Street aide had written to TfL staff in October 2015 and four that were sent to him from TfL email accounts at the same time.
In other words, as the Daily Mail again revealed last month, Downing Street’s apparent claim that such emails didn’t exist turned out to be completely untrue.
While No 10 has denied wrongdoing, the Information Commission is now looking into the potential cover-up, revealing yesterday that it has now contacted Downing Street and is seeking to establish whether officials broke the Freedom of Information Act.
A growing number of MPs, including Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, are calling for a full parliamentary inquiry to establish the full extent of the lobbying campaign on behalf of Uber by Cameron and Osborne
Meanwhile, a growing number of MPs, including Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, are calling for a full parliamentary inquiry to establish the full extent of the lobbying campaign on behalf of Uber by Cameron and Osborne — who, it should be noted, has now taken a £650,000-a-year part-time job with one of Uber’s major investors, the U.S. firm BlackRock.
As for Whetstone, a number of factors are said to be at play in her decision to quit yesterday, including the PR disasters to have affected Uber in recent months and her relationship with the firm’s abrasive billionaire boss, Travis Kalanick, which is said to be fractious.
Surely playing a prominent role, however, are the questions raised by her links to Cameron and Osborne in light of their lobbying campaign — leading to the allegation that they granted her special favours.
For the Mail’s recent disclosures mean that she herself has ‘become the story’, as the old saying goes, thereby breaking the oldest rule in the public relations book.
Uber, for its part, may feel that Whetstone’s departure can potentially limit future damage from what is now a serious and growing political scandal.
Perhaps, more to the point, the Silicon Valley firm also feels that Rachel Whetstone has outlived her political usefulness.
For now that Cameron is no longer PM, this rapacious internet giant no longer benefits from having the best mate of the country’s leader on its payroll.
LIVERPOOL COMCAB
You will remember March 17, just less than a Month ago.
Everybody celebrating the new contract awarded by the Manx Health Service for the onward transfer of Isle o Man patients back on the mainland.
http://acnedriver.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/liverpool-comcab-new-taxi-provider-for.html
You will remember March 17, just less than a Month ago.
Everybody celebrating the new contract awarded by the Manx Health Service for the onward transfer of Isle o Man patients back on the mainland.
http://acnedriver.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/liverpool-comcab-new-taxi-provider-for.html
Well it seems it is not going to well.
----------------------
Isle o Man Today.
There’s been a mixed response to the new-look patient transfer taxi service in Liverpool.
And Health and Social Care Minister Kate Beecroft says feedback will be taken on board.
ComCab took over the contract from Bridgewater Taxis last month, in a move that will save the taxpayer £33,000 a year.
But some patients using the service are not impressed.
They have posted comments on a Facebook group which has been set up with the aim of forwarding feedback to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The main complaints have been about comfort, with some passengers saying they have had to sit facing backwards on folding seats in the black cabs used by ComCab - in contrast to the minibuses used by Bridgewater.
One poster said a ComCab driver refused to drop her and her husband outside the airport as he didn’t want to pay the £2.50 charge.
She said: ’We had to walk back up to the airport (glad it wasn’t raining) and my husband had to stop several times to rest before we reached the airport. Very bad service and I would have rather paid the £2.50 myself if I’d realised this was the new deal/contract with ComCab than expect an unwell person to walk back up to the airport.
’Not impressed with ComCab, bring back Bridgewater.’
Another passenger said: ’The drawback with the new company is that they use black taxi cabs and as we were the last collection we had to sit on the drop down seats.
’I find it difficult to travel backwards it leaves me feeling sick and also did nothing to ease my pain as I was practically sitting doubled over; at least with Bridgewater they had comfortable 7 seaters for you to travel in.’
One patient posted: ’A typical taxi ride in my opinion, get there as fast as possible, with little concern for the cargo.’
Another said: ’My husband has had major surgery and cannot walk as yet. But coming back to the airport, it would be so helpful if they went carefully over the traffic humps.’
Site administrator Carole Male said: ’Perhaps there will be no cost savings at the end and of all this chaos, which is affecting our sick patients and it will be for nothing.’
But it’s not all criticism. One patient posted: ’I had no problems whatsoever.
’Came out of hospital at 3.10 [booked for 3.30] and the cab was already there. Waved and called me over as he recognised me from earlier. Very chatty and friendly. Cab was a brand new minibus-style taxi with plenty of room. No problems at all.’
Mrs Beecroft said teething problems were inevitable when a service changes hands, particularly when there is a short timescale for that change-over.
She said: ‘ComCab is fully engaged in the process and appreciates the feedback from the department and directly from patients themselves.’
One area of improvement already identified is the need for the DHSC to provide ComCab with more detailed information on patients’ individual needs so that the most appropriate type of vehicle can be deployed.
These include vehicles with ramps for wheelchairs, six seater vehicles for people with mobility problems, and taxis with a swivel seat which rotates to allow people with disabilities or mobility problems to get in and out.
A patient information leaflet is being updated to ask patients to contact the DHSC with any specific requirements they have.
Mrs Beecroft added: ‘I have said before that Bridgewater provided an exemplary service, but they too used hackney cabs and mini-buses as well as saloon cars.
‘No single vehicle will meet the diverse needs of all of our patients which is why we encourage patients to let us know their specific requirements.’
Any patient or their escort wishing to provide written feedback about the patient transfer service can email dhsc@gov.im
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
THE DAILY MAIL U.K. GIVE UBER ITS OWN NEWS PAGE ! W.T.F
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/uber/index.html
-----------------------------------------------------
MEANWHILE AT UBERK, Its getting Hot so the Rats abandon ship.
http://bit.ly/2ps9fdv
-------------------------------------------------
MERSEYSIDE
A racist mother sank her teeth into a taxi driver's hand after punching him and calling him an "Egyptian c***".
Sarah McIntyre, 33, from Wavertree, Merseyside, bit Kacem Mehouen's hand so badly, he was left with a broken little finger and unable to work.
The sickening attack was even filmed by McIntyre's own mum, as Mr Mehouen desperately tried to defend himself in his car, reports the Liverpool Echo .
Liverpool Crown Court heard it was the third time McIntyre had racially abused a victim and the second time she bit someone.
Alpha Taxis driver Mr Mehouen collected McIntyre and her mum from Ennismore Road, Old Swan, at 2.55pm on November 25, 2015.
Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, said McIntyre became “quite aggressive” and ordered him to follow a specific route.
The victim refused, informed his office and asked the operator to send another driver.
Ms Mottram said both women were aggressive and refused to get out until the second car arrived.
She said: “The defendant was being abusive and racist and she called Mr Mehouen an Egyptian c***.”
He got out and rang police , before realising McIntyre had taken his taxi badge, as they exited the vehicle.
Ms Mottram said: “She began to punch him to the face. He was blocking the punches with his hand.
“He nearly fell over in an attempt to avoid the blows that were raining down on him.”
McIntyre’s mum said she had him on video and he saw her filming him.
Ms Mottram added: “He then felt a sharp pain to the little finger of his left hand and looked down to see the defendant biting him.”
He managed to get in his taxi and drive away, before going to hospital .
Mr Mehouen suffered nerve damage and required stitches, a splint and five follow-up appointments.
He could not drive for two weeks, which cost him around £600. He said he is now nervous at work and hopes to find another job.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/racist-mum-sank-teeth-taxi-10200676
------------------------------------------------
AYR
Benefit bosses who axed a multiple sclerosis sufferer's Motability car to save £8,000 over three years offered to pay out £65,000 on taxi fares instead.
Jan Davis, who suffers excruciating pain, had been receiving the Personal Independence Payment, a non-means tested benefit, and used this money to lease a Motability car.
But the DWP last month informed the 58-year-old she would no longer qualify for the disability allowance after a snap reassessment of her benefits ruled she did not need the car to live independently.
Officers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ruled that she did qualify for help in getting to work as an admin officer for HM Revenue & Customs.
Yet they agreed to pay for a taxi to take Jan, from Ayr, to and from her job in East Kilbride, 33 miles away. That’s eight journeys a week, at £60 each.
The move, which would cost the taxpayer an extra £19,000 a year, was branded "shambolic" by her local MP.
Jan turned to the DWP's Access to Work scheme after taking advice from her MP.
To her surprise, she was informed the DWP would pay for her to take a taxi to and from work - despite a cost of almost £65,000 over three years, compared with the £8,000 cost of leasing a car over that period.
Jan blasted the DWP's approach, saying: "It's crazy - it would have cost them less than £6000 for me to keep the car and yet they are willing to pay up to £65,000 for taxis.
http://bit.ly/2p6so5x
-----------------------------------------------------
MEANWHILE AT UBERK, Its getting Hot so the Rats abandon ship.
http://bit.ly/2ps9fdv
-------------------------------------------------
MERSEYSIDE
A racist mother sank her teeth into a taxi driver's hand after punching him and calling him an "Egyptian c***".
Sarah McIntyre, 33, from Wavertree, Merseyside, bit Kacem Mehouen's hand so badly, he was left with a broken little finger and unable to work.
The sickening attack was even filmed by McIntyre's own mum, as Mr Mehouen desperately tried to defend himself in his car, reports the Liverpool Echo .
Liverpool Crown Court heard it was the third time McIntyre had racially abused a victim and the second time she bit someone.
Alpha Taxis driver Mr Mehouen collected McIntyre and her mum from Ennismore Road, Old Swan, at 2.55pm on November 25, 2015.
Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, said McIntyre became “quite aggressive” and ordered him to follow a specific route.
The victim refused, informed his office and asked the operator to send another driver.
Ms Mottram said both women were aggressive and refused to get out until the second car arrived.
She said: “The defendant was being abusive and racist and she called Mr Mehouen an Egyptian c***.”
He got out and rang police , before realising McIntyre had taken his taxi badge, as they exited the vehicle.
Ms Mottram said: “She began to punch him to the face. He was blocking the punches with his hand.
“He nearly fell over in an attempt to avoid the blows that were raining down on him.”
McIntyre’s mum said she had him on video and he saw her filming him.
Ms Mottram added: “He then felt a sharp pain to the little finger of his left hand and looked down to see the defendant biting him.”
He managed to get in his taxi and drive away, before going to hospital .
Mr Mehouen suffered nerve damage and required stitches, a splint and five follow-up appointments.
He could not drive for two weeks, which cost him around £600. He said he is now nervous at work and hopes to find another job.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/racist-mum-sank-teeth-taxi-10200676
------------------------------------------------
AYR
Benefit bosses who axed a multiple sclerosis sufferer's Motability car to save £8,000 over three years offered to pay out £65,000 on taxi fares instead.
Jan Davis, who suffers excruciating pain, had been receiving the Personal Independence Payment, a non-means tested benefit, and used this money to lease a Motability car.
But the DWP last month informed the 58-year-old she would no longer qualify for the disability allowance after a snap reassessment of her benefits ruled she did not need the car to live independently.
Officers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ruled that she did qualify for help in getting to work as an admin officer for HM Revenue & Customs.
Yet they agreed to pay for a taxi to take Jan, from Ayr, to and from her job in East Kilbride, 33 miles away. That’s eight journeys a week, at £60 each.
The move, which would cost the taxpayer an extra £19,000 a year, was branded "shambolic" by her local MP.
Jan turned to the DWP's Access to Work scheme after taking advice from her MP.
To her surprise, she was informed the DWP would pay for her to take a taxi to and from work - despite a cost of almost £65,000 over three years, compared with the £8,000 cost of leasing a car over that period.
Jan blasted the DWP's approach, saying: "It's crazy - it would have cost them less than £6000 for me to keep the car and yet they are willing to pay up to £65,000 for taxis.
http://bit.ly/2p6so5x
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