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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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