YORK 

A taxi driver, who was working for Uber, has been found to have illegally plied for trade in York and has been ordered to pay a total £1,404 .

He was also given six points on his driving licence.

In August 2017 as part of a joint enforcement operation, City of York Council officers and North Yorkshire Police were carrying out routine checks of taxis and private hire vehicles in York city centre.

Sohail Ahmed, aged 45 of Wensleydale Road, Bradford, was stopped on Holgate Road, while driving a Hackney carriage licensed by Rossendale Borough Council.

At the time, Mr Ahmed had two passengers on board.

After making enquiries with the licensing authority Rossendale BC and the operator Uber, the journey was found not to have been pre-booked.

As a hackney carriage operating outside of his home licensed area, Mr Ahmed could only take pre-booked private hire work.

The passengers had not booked this journey nor was any booking made through the driver’s operator Uber.

Mr Ahmed’s insurance was also found to only cover pre-booked journeys, so taking passengers without a booking invalidated his insurance.

In his absence,  York Magistrates’ Court found Mr Ahmed guilty of plying for hire and issued a fine of £200, plus driving with no insurance for which he was fined £660 and given six penalty points on his driver’s licence. In addition, he was ordered to pay a court surcharge of £66 and prosecution costs of £478.20.

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