A taxi driver was lured to a bogus pick-up near a Stockport church and then set upon in a late night armed robbery.

The 53-year-old thought he was picking up a fair from Old Hall Drive, Offerton, on Wednesday at 1.30am.

But when he arrived three men carrying a hammer and knife attacked him. One opened the door and another grabbed the driver round the neck and took his keys.

The gang made off with around £200 and the taxi driver’s watch.

Police have appealed for witnesses and are checking CCTV in the area.

Officers describe the robbers as white men aged 25. They wore hooded tops and two had scarves round their faces.

The scene is on a road lined with trees to provide cover and near St John’s Church.

Inspector Jim Lockett, from Stockport’s east area neighbourhood police, said: “This was a nasty attack.

“It was late at night but we would like to hear from anyone who either saw the incident or three men loitering around at the time.”

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/stockport-taxi-driver-lured-bogus-9622776
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READING

Taxi driver spokesman alleged 'black market' and 'organised slavery'

Syed Abbas brought his complaint to the full Reading Borough Council meeting on Tuesday, July 7.

Mr Abbas, who says he is now blacklisted and unable to drive a cab, asked simply: ”Renting a cab as a taxi driver is organised slavery, who is responsible?”

A second taxi driver Masud Mazhar also asked a question at the same meeting: “We provide proper evidence, black marketing is going on high level. Local government is failed to provide justice. Why?”

Cllr Paul Gittings said in answer to Mr Abbas: “The Modern Slavery Act 2015 details that modern slavery encompasses human trafficking, slavery, forced labour and domestic servitude. Whilst you may consider that renting a cab rather than owning a cab is restrictive, the council in its stewardship of Hackney Carriages has not found any evidence to substantiate that you, or others, in your situation are being forced to work.

“If you feel that this is not the case, the police are responsible for investigating these matter.

“To answer your question as to who is responsible for the current policy you will know that the council has previously considered your concerns regarding the number of Hackney Carriage plates that have been issued.

“It is within the council’s powers to make a local decision on limiting the number of Hackney Carriage licence vehicles it will issue and at present some 28 per cent of local authorities do limit their Hackney Carriage numbers.”

Mr Gittings said the council had to justify the limit under the Transport Act 1985 by carrying out a survey to establish whether there is “unmet demand” for taxis. The council carries out such surveys every three years and the next one is due to be completed this October.

Cllr Gittings said there was no law restricting black cab owners from renting their vehicles to other drivers provided they had a valid Hackney Carriage Vehicle drivers’ licence.

In answer to Mr Mazhar, Cllr Gittings said: “I met with you and members of the Reading Taxi Drivers’ Association in December last year to discuss the matter I believe you are referring to in your question.

“The then chair of licensing was also present at the meeting and we promised to fully investigate your concerns.

“This investigation was carried out and reported to members of the licensing committee with advice from legal services.

“The outcome of the investigation and consideration by members of the committee was that your complaints were dismissed.”

Mr Abbas explained to getreading afterwards that he phrased the question in that way because he had raised his concerns with the police and they had passed him to Reading Borough Council’s licensing committee and now the council was saying it was a matter for the police.

Mr Abbas’s main concern is that Reading Borough Council no longer issues additional Hackney Carriage licences.

He says that leads to “black market” sales of cabs with licences being sold for as much as £78,000 even though a Hackney Carriage licence plate only costs £400 if purchased from the borough council.

That in turn, he claims, forces people like himself with a taxi drivers’ licence to rent cabs from existing licence-holders.

He alleges he was black-listed as a driver after he spoke out about his grievances to the council and to MP Alok Sharma.


Mr Abbas claimed the council had been given evidence of “threats” by Hackney Carriage licence holders to drivers and the “black-market” trade in licensed cabs and it had taken no action.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/taxi-driver-spokesman-alleged-black-9614325
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A robber has been jailed for attacking a taxi driver who insisted on him paying a £10 fare to Wakefield up front.

Ismail Dadhiwala was left lying in the middle of a Dewsbury road with injuries to his face, head and arms after being assaulted by Ben Lawson, and his companion Ryan Gledhill.

Leeds Crown Court heard how the men, both 26, were picked up in the early hours of the morning of November 5 last year on Princess Lane in Earlsheaton.

Having asked how much it would cost to take them to Wakefield, Mr Dadhiwala replied it would be “Between £10 and £11” and asked for the money up front.

However, one of the passengers responded: “Just drive on, we’ll give you the money when we get there.”

Mr Dadhiwala did briefly drive on but soon pulled up and asked for the money again. One of the passengers then instructed him to drive to Sykes Lane in Dewsbury, where “his girlfriend would pay for it”, but when the driver stopped again he said, “You are going to take us to Wakefield.”

When Mr Dadhiwala suggested that he was being threatened, the rear seat passenger grabbed him by the neck and demanded he give them money.

When the driver sounded his horn in a bid to alert passers by to his predicament, the passenger got out of the car, opened the driver’s door and tried to drag him out, while the front seat passenger punched him in the face.

The court was told that “The next thing the victim knew he was lying in the middle of the road.”

The two men, who made off with £150 worth of cash, bank cards and cigarettes, were apprehended at a Dewsbury address a few hours later and arrested.

It was said that Lawson, of Haselden Road in Wakefield, had appeared in court on 16 previous occasions and had been given a seven year sentence for a similar offence in 2010.

Sentencing him to three years and eight months in prison, Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC, said: “This robbery I accept was not prepared, but developed as you asked for money. The result was you stole money from him and he was subjected to this very unpleasant attack. Courts must do what they can to protect people serving in the way that he does.”

Gledhill had previously been given the same sentence for his part in the attack.

http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/local-news/robbers-attacked-taxi-driver-over-10-fare-1-7351297
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LONDON

Uber accused of exploiting customers during tube strike after it triples fares

London cab drivers and users of the taxi-booking app criticise its ‘surge pricing’ policy, when fares rise due to increasing demand, during strike

Uber, the app-based taxi-booking business, has been accused of exploiting customers by tripling fares during London’s tube strike.

Uber users were confronted on Thursday morning with warnings that the company was tripling fares because “demand is off the charts”.

It warned of “surge pricing”, with fares 2.9 times higher than normal and with a minimum fare of £14.50. Even sitting in standing traffic would cost 43p per minute instead of the normal 15p.

Uber, which connects users with private-hire drivers, has driven down the cost of minicabs in London, with regular fares as low as £1.25 per mile, but often increases charges when demand is high, such as late on weekends, when lots of people want to get home at the same time. Its 15,000 drivers in the capital target areas where surge pricing is in force in order to boost incomes. There have been accusations that some Uber drivers barely make the minimum wage as a result of falling fares.

Steve McNamara, head of the London Taxi Drivers Association, seized on the price hikes as “yet further evidence of how a profit-motivated $50bn [£32bn] company operates”.

He added: “It exploits its drivers, forcing many to survive on less than minimum wage and when they can they exploit their customers, seizing on other people’s misery to make more money. If they achieve their goal of market domination by forcing their competitors out of the market … today’s prices and experiences will become the norm.”

Later in the day Uber’s fares were back to normal, but they were expected to surge again around the evening rush hour.

Labour London mayor hopeful Sadiq Khan said: “Uber may be very clever with their ‘dynamic demand’, but it still looks like a rip-off when you are struggling to get to and from work while the tube is out of action.”

Uber has proved controversial around the world.

Last month, the Guardian exposed how drivers could be approved to drive using faked insurance documents in London. Last week, Uber had to suspend its Uber Pop service in France, which connects unlicensed drivers with paying customers

Defending the price hikes, Uber said its “dynamic pricing” was fully transparent.

“Drivers work on the Uber platform on a completely flexible basis, as much or as little as they want,” a spokesman said. “During times of peak demand – when demand massively outstrips supply – fares increase temporarily to incentivise more drivers to work on the platform. As soon as the demand drops or supply increases, the price comes back down.”


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Uber also benefits from the fare surge because it takes 20% commission from every fare.

The spokesman added that customers “are notified clearly in-app, and even have to physically type in the price … to confirm they have understood the pricing. Riders also have the option to get a fare estimate at that price, or can press the ‘notify me when surge drops’ button to get a message as soon as the price drops back to normal.”

Tony Parsons, the writer, was among those outraged. He tweeted: “Uber triple prices for the #TubeStrike That’s not capitalism, it’s robbery. London black cabs still the greatest taxi drivers on the planet!”

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/09/uber-accused-exploiting-customers-triples-fares-during-tube-strike