THE HEAD of a London taxi union has shared his concerns about the rise in "fake" taxi drivers - which he claims are an increasingly worrying problem.

Steve McNamara, head of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, revealed that previously owned private hire cars are popular with London families and commuters as they are Congestion Charge exempt - but they also attract the attention of less wholesome drivers.

Speaking to The Sun Online, he said: "We at the LTDA are worried about TfL licensed Private Hire Vehicles being sold with the licence roundel [identifying logo], it's a major concern of ours.
"The reason the seller leaves the roundels in - even though they're not meant to, is because whilst it has the roundel it is congestion charge exempt.

"If you as an individual - forget you being a potential rapist or attacker - are doing the school run every morning, and could buy one of these cars and not pay the Congestion Charge for a year, it would save you thousands.

"That's why they do it, to add more value to the vehicle."

London's Congestion Charge is an £11.50 daily fee for driving a vehicle within the city's designated charging zone between 07:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday. There is a £1 discount if you set up a credit card payment that triggers every time you enter the zone.

By the end of 2017, there will have been 260 working days.

Assuming you enter the Congestion Charge zone on each of those days, you could be paying £2990 a year - more if you forget a day and pay the next day charge of £14, or forget altogether and get slapped with a £120 fine - reduced to £60 if you pay it within 14 days.

A quick search online shows hundreds of London cabs for sale priced anywhere between £400, and £30,000, but Steve doesn't think that they are as attractive to criminals as cars that were once used for minicabbing.

He admits that it's easy to buy a second hand black cab, but adds that it's not uncommon for some folks to use them as a daily runaround.

"Plenty of people have got them as normal cars. Stephen Fry, Bez from the Happy Mondays and even Prince Phillip.

"You might get away with driving it down the bus lane if the cameras don't pick you up, but you'd stand out like a sore thumb to our members.

"There is a much lesser problem of second hand black cabs being sold after they have finished service.

"This is primarily because our members instantly spot an unlicensed taxi and watch and instantly report any suspicious behaviour to the police."

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MORE PAIN FOR UBERK

London Uber: A female driver has issued sex discrimination proceedings against the taxi company

The 44-year-old Uber driver issued proceedings at the Employment Tribunal, claiming the company’s practices unfairly disadvantage women.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the way the San Francisco-based firm operate is putting her and other female drivers at risk.
She claimed Uber drivers do not know their passenger’s destination until the the traveller is already in the car, and do not have the option to cancel the journey if the final point is to a remote or unsafe area.

The female driver added if a customer becomes aggressive in the car, the driver cannot cancel the journey - and if she asks the passenger to leave the vehicle, she faces customer complaints and low ratings which could affect future work.

The claim is being brought by the GMB union and represented by law firm Leigh Day.
Nigel Mackay, a lawyer at Leigh Day, said: “We believe that Uber’s policies do not do enough to protect female drivers.

“Our client no longer feels able to drive in the evening or at night time, suffering a loss of income as a result.

“We believe that Uber should not only ensure the safety of its passengers but also all of its drivers, and provide as much protection as possible to women to ensure that they are not vulnerable to assaults from passengers.”

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Veezu establishes fourth UK taxi hub

Veezu has acquired V Cars, which has operations in Bristol, Bath, Chippenham and Swindon, from founder Dave Scaramanga who remains in the business in a senior management role.

The Wales-based taxi group has three existing taxi hubs throughout the UK operating under their local brand names – Dragon Taxis in south Wales, A2B in Solihull and Birmingham and Amber Cars in Leeds.

The establishment of the fourth taxi hub not only gives Veezu a presence in the South West of England for the first time, but also increases the number of drivers it provides dispatch services to across the group by 40%, up to approximately 3,500.   

Joel Hope-Bell, chief executive officer at Veezu, said: “A core element of our growth strategy is to increase the number of regional taxi hubs in the Veezu group and the acquisition of V Cars sees us continuing to deliver on this.

“The South West is of strategic importance to Veezu as it further bolsters our presence along the M4 corridor and enables us to operate in additional major cities and towns, which offer substantial growth potential.”

V Cars also operates as Abbey Taxis in Bath and Streamline in Bristol. It has been in business for more than 25 years and handles approximately 50,000 journeys every week.

Joel added: “V Cars, Abbey Taxis and Streamline are all well-established businesses in their wn right. We are delighted that they are now part of the Veezu group and we are looking forward to working closely with Dave to continue to develop and grow the businesses and deliver a ‘best-in-class’ service to all passengers and customers.”  
Veezu, established in late 2013, is a unique business model with a strategy to lead the UK taxi market through an expected period of change and consolidation.

Since then, Veezu has invested heavily in new technology and strengthened its management team, mobile application and dispatch technologies.

http://bit.ly/2fxPiCQ 
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STRETFORD GTR MANCHESTER

A taxi driver was stabbed repeatedly during an attempted robbery in Stretford.

Police say the victim suffered injuries to his arms, hands and legs, and although they’re not believed to be serious wounds, he remained in hospital overnight.

He was attacked on Monday night on Victoria Road, near Victoria Park.

It’s understood the 53-year-old was approached by a group of people, who tried to steal his takings before attacking him.

Emergency services were called to the scene and the victim was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary by ambulance.

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