LONDON

Taxi firms face claims over drivers' rights in wake of Uber case

The battle for rights for gig economy workers is stepping up as the union behind legal action against Uber targets three taxi firms that say their drivers are not entitled to holiday pay or the minimum wage.

Green Tomato Cars, which calls itself “London’s green and ethical car service”, luxury airport transfer specialist Blacklane and Birmingham’s A2B are facing claims from former drivers who say they are “workers” and not independent contractors as the car firms insist.

The cases are backed by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) union, which has won a string of successful cases on worker status, including against Uber. The ride-hailing app is to challenge the ruling at the court of appeal.

An employment tribunal test case backed by the GMB union also found that some Addison Lee drivers had been wrongly classed as self-employed. Addison Lee has been granted the right to appeal against the case.

“The bogus classification of private hire drivers as independent contractors in order to deprive them of employment rights is rampant across the sector. It’s not just Uber and Addison Lee,” Jason Moyer-Lee, the general secretary of the IWGB, said.

Nelson Salei, a former driver for Green Tomato, says he is a worker and so is entitled to be reimbursed unpaid holiday pay.

Salei worked for the private hire group for several months last year, usually on five-day rolling contracts. He left after claiming he was not paid for several days of a contract after a dispute over a fare that was booked but did not turn up.

He said the non-payment just before Christmas “was really frustrating”. “I wanted to have a comfortable Christmas but I had to ask people to lend me money,” he said.

Salei earned £20 an hour on the contract, under which he promised to work only for Green Tomato and turn down work from other companies such as Uber, but estimates that he took home less than half of that after paying for petrol, insurance, maintenance and leasing his car.

He says he never asked for holiday pay. “I didn’t know much about my rights,” he said.
Green Tomato Cars said it “prides itself on being an ethical company and, in particular, in our relationship with drivers”.

“We have discussed the situation with Mr Salei and his union representative through the Acas mediation process, and maintain our position that there are no grounds for his claim,” it added.
“We will of course comply with the requirements of the tribunal, where we expect to successfully defend the claim.”

Mariusz Jakubowski, who worked for Blacklane in Glasgow, until just before Christmas last year, said he didn’t receive a set rate for jobs. The app works by offering a rate for a job in a particular area that gradually increases until a driver takes it up.

Jakubowski left after he was fined by the company when a customer complained he handed them a personal business card, something he denies doing. He said he had rented out his car and stopped private-hire driving after leaving Blacklane. “I was earning good money,” he said. But after receiving the fine and being assaulted by a passenger while working for another taxi service he said: “I realised it wasn’t worth it.”

Berlin-based Blacklane, which operates in more than 250 cities around the world and is partly backed by the carmaker Daimler, said: “We have not received any official information, documentation or filings about this case.

Therefore, we cannot comment in any meaningful way.”

A2B’s owner Veezu, which owns several private hire firms, did not respond to a request for comment.

The gig economy has proved to be a battleground for disputes about employment status involving firms such as takeaway company Deliveroo and courier firm CitySprint. Its emergence also prompted a full-blown government review into modern employment practices, led by Matthew Taylor, a former adviser to Tony Blair.

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A Brighton and Hove taxi driver has lost his licence after he was accused of a serious sexual offence.

The cabbie, a 35-year-old man from Portslade, worked for Brighton and Hove Radio Cabs, one of the three main taxi and private hire businesses operating in the area.

A fourth business, Uber, faces a licensing panel on Monday (23 April) in the hope of renewing its private hire licence for Brighton and Hove.

Sussex Police said: “A 35-year-old man from Portslade, arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a female in a taxi in Brighton on (Sunday) 4 February, answered bail on (Wednesday) 28 March.

“He was subsequently released under investigation.”

Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We were informed by the police that a taxi driver had been accused of a serious sexual offence and, as a result of our own inquiries, his licence to operate as a taxi driver and his vehicle licence have both been revoked.

“Public safety is a priority and we act on any intelligence regarding public safety, regardless of an arrest or charge, and take the appropriate action to protect passengers where we believe the evidence we have support this.

“General details of enforcement action taken against taxi and private hire drivers are reported to each meeting of the council’s Licensing Committee and these reports are available on the council’s website.

“The majority of the licensed taxi trade are very aware of the high responsibility of the work they do and act in a professional manner.”

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A COVENTRY taxi driver has had his licence revoked with immediate effect for failing to properly secure a disabled passenger in his cab on two separate occasions.

The hackney cab driver did not use restraining straps to secure the wheelchair and the passenger in the correct position.

He then failed to admit these failures to Coventry City Council enforcement officers when subsequently interviewed under caution.

Details of the two incidents have been heard by the Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee which took the decision to withdraw the driver’s licence.

The committee felt the driver had tried to pass the burden of responsibility onto the complainant stating it was the passenger who had requested not to be strapped in, the council says.

A Coventry council spokesperson said: “Members were unanimous in the decision to revoke the licence and wanted to send a clear message to Coventry taxi drivers that transporting any passenger in a dangerous manner would not be tolerated.

“All hackney cab drivers are trained in how to place wheelchair passengers into a vehicle.
“But the driver accepted at the hearing that he had not followed the correct procedure.

“He had loaded the passenger and wheelchair sideways into the vehicle and then stretched restraining belts over the legs of the complainant.”
In hackney cabs, a wheelchair must be turned to face the rear of the vehicle and secured using straps and the seatbelt within the vehicle.

During the hearing, the Licensing and Regulatory Committee also warned Private Hire Operators need to review procedures in relation to disabled passengers.

They also want to see a robust complaints procedure in place, as a lack of one may lead to a review of their licence.

Andrew Walster, director, Streetscene and Regulatory Services at Coventry council, believes the committee has sent a clear warning to all taxi drivers.

He said: “Members are unanimous that the council wants to ensure that all taxis operating in our city are accessible to all members of the public and that they are carried in a safe and proper manner.
“There are further enforcement operations planned in the future to ensure compliance by all our taxi operators.

“It would be clear discrimination should taxi operators decline to take wheelchair users based upon their disability.

“If reports of any refusals are received then the driver leaves themselves open to a licence review.”

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BOLTON


A TAXI driver who twice overcharged a passenger who used a wheelchair has been convicted of an offence under the Equality Act.

A taxi capable of carrying the wheelchair had been booked to take Peter Kelly, with his wife Tracy and her daughter Kerry Battersby, from their home in Westhoughton to a restaurant in Blackrod for Mrs Kelly's 50th birthday celebration.

But Bolton Magistrates' Court heard that driver Pervez Sajid, who had been sub-contracted by Timewise, charged them £17.50 for the five-and-a-half-mile journey.

Peter Horgan, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Kelly, who is disabled, and his family thought the ride, on May 19 last year, was expensive but became concerned when they learned that Mrs Kelly's son, Cllr Ryan Battersby, had made a similar journey to the restaurant in a different cab and only been charged just over £9.

After the meal 58-year-old Sajid arrived to take the Kellys back to their home in Greenfold Lane and, again, charged them £17.50.

Cllr Battersby decided to complain to Bolton Council about the charging and, on May 31, Sajid was questioned by a licensing enforcement officer.
Sajid, of Gilnow Road, Heaton, told the investigator that he had a double-sided card listing the charges for journeys.

One side was the rate for carrying up to four passengers and on the other was the charges for a minibus used for four to eight passengers.
He claimed he had looked at the wrong side of the card when asking for payment from the Kellys and told the enforcement officer he would apologise and refund the overpayment.

Mr Horgan told the court that, in total, the Kellys were overcharged by £13.35.

"It is a small amount but it is, of course, the principle to ensure there is no discrimination towards anyone who is wheelchair-bound," said Mr Horgan.

Sajid pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a duty to carry people using wheelchairs without making an additional charge, an offence under Section 165 of the Equality Act 2010, which came into force in April last year.

In a prepared statement read out in court Sajid told magistrates that this was the only complaint about him in the 31 years he has been a taxi driver.
"This has upset my reputation which I am very proud of," he said.
"I am sorry for the mistake and reading the wrong side of the fare card.

"I had no intention of overcharging passengers because one person had access needs."
Magistrates sentenced him to a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered him to pay £200 towards prosecution costs, plus £13.35 in compensation.

Chairman of the bench David Hendry told him: "You have to understand that taxi drivers are under a duty of care to all their passengers and that, of course, includes disabled passengers."

However, he added: "It is important to recognise that you, Mr Sajid, have been a taxi driver in Bolton for 31 years without a blemish and you offered to apologise and reimburse the monies."
Mr Kelly has been wheelchair-bound for four years after having a leg amputated.

His wife welcomed the outcome of the court case and said she hopes it deters other drivers from overcharging and encourages more wheelchair users to complain if they are being treated unfairly.

"It is more the principle," she said.
"Why should we be charged double for the same journey?"

It is the first time Bolton Council has brought such a prosecution and executive cabinet member for environmental services, Cllr Nick Peel said: "We wrote out to every private hire and taxi driver last year to forewarn them about the new regulations contained in the Equality Act, and that we would not hesitate to enforce its provisions.

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SOUTH WALES

CABBIES who went on strike over a faulty app that overcharged customers have been sacked.

The 25 drivers working for V Cars were told the action was in response to a noisy protest outside the firm’s Groundwell headquarters on Monday that involved around 60 people.

In a letter to its drivers, Veezu, which owns the company said: “Unfortunately, a small minority of drivers have become disruptive. These actions are detrimental to the vast majority of drivers and affect not just the company’s reputation, but also all drivers’ work levels.”

Managing director for the south west and Wales, Ryan Owen, wrote: “These actions are not reasonable and as such we cannot condone or allow them to continue. 

“We have a duty of care to our staff for their safety and wellbeing and to the majority of drivers to safeguard work levels. 

 “The drivers identified carrying out these actions are no longer associated with V Cars.
 
“Their accounts have been finalised and their private hire licences returned to the council offices for collection.”

He added: “V Cars now looks forward to finalising our driver feedback panel to engage with drivers constructively.

“We will continue to investigate concerns raised regarding the speed and signal strength of the equipment and look to decide on long term solutions shortly.”

The drivers refused to work on Monday claiming a new app that people could use to book taxis, was grossly overcharging customers and had not been fixed.

One case saw a passenger charged £120 for travelling from Wroughton to Old Town. 
In a statement issued today V Cars Drivers’
Association said members were outraged with the way the firm had handled the issue. 

 “We have the right to protest and the management should respect our decision to do so," they said. "We are also a customer of the company as we pay for a service every week. We will be contacting the Citizen’s Advice Bureau because the way we have been treated is disgraceful.”

In the statement, they added: “Veezu has no proof to back up what they have said, if we were behaving in such a manner the police would have made arrests or dispersed us from the scene.”
Last week the drivers met the company in an attempt to resolve the issues, which included complaints that valuable jobs were only being given to favoured drivers. But it was without success.

At the time V Cars said it had received feedback from some drivers that they were experiencing signal and speed issues with the iCabbi app and that it had sent a team to Swindon to carry out testing.

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