Foreign convicts could be given jobs as taxi drivers because of a legal loophole preventing employers from checking their records, it has emerged.

Licensing authorities in London are not allowed to carry out background checks on asylum seekers and refugees in case it damages their case.

The gap in the rules is spelled out in a Transport for London document on “private hire driver licensing” applications.

The form states: “With regards to overseas criminal records checks, no such checks will be made in respect of those applicants who declare that they are in possession of or who have applied for refugee or asylum status.”

Conservative MP Nick de Bois told the Daily Express: “They should not be offering licences to those they can’t check on. They could be putting vulnerable members of the public in the hands of thieves, murderers and rapists. It beggars belief.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11518708/Foreign-convicts-allowed-to-work-as-taxi-drivers-without-disclosing-crimes.html
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Business travelers are bypassing the taxi queue with greater frequency, choosing instead ride-hailing services like Uber Technologies.

A new report by expense management system provider Certify shows that 47 percent of the ground transportation rides by its users in March were through Uber. That's more than tripled from the 14 percent of rides that Uber had just over a year ago in January 2014. 

In a few cities, Uber now tops taxi rides for business travelers.
"While we often see noteworthy market shifts — leading restaurant chains and hotels exchanging leadership positions, for example — it is unprecedented to see one vendor grow to take such a commanding market share within one year's time," says Certify CEO Bob Neveu.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ubers-popularity-surges-business-travelers-040212674.html
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EIRE

More than 100 taxi drivers have been prosecuted for operating a vehicle without a driving licence within the past five years, making it the most common prosecution the National Transport Authority has taken.

The authority, which is the regulatory body for small public service vehicles and handles taxi complaints, took 80 prosecutions against drivers last year.

The body also referred 208 complaints to an Garda Síochána, the bulk of which were connected to road traffic matters which come under that organisation’s remit and complaints against taxi drivers who were not operating the taxi as a public service vehicle at the time.
Last year the authority took 21 prosecutions against drivers without a valid driver licence while a further 16 related to drivers without a valid vehicle licence. Six prosecutions were taken against drivers who had neither licence.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/over-100-taxi-drivers-prosecuted-for-having-no-driving-licences-1.2166705
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Lynk, Ireland's answer to the Hailo taxi app, is set to make a massive push into the UK market with €25m in private funding as early as next year.

The app, which was developed by taxi fleet management company Global Taxis, employs more than 170 people at its Dublin base.

It has seen phenomenal growth since its February launch and recently merged with Dublin's third largest taxi firm, Blue Cabs, to add 200 new drivers. Lynk now has around 2,800 drivers signed to its fleet.

The app allows bookings in advance of journeys and customers can also make multiple bookings at the same time.

Founder Noel Ebbs, pictured, said the company aims to have 5,000 drivers signed up by the end of the year. He said the company aims to be nationwide by the end of the year and will then focus on expanding abroad.

"We started up with €2.5m of seed capital which came primarily from the host company, which is Global, and private investors. That is enough to take us through Ireland [but] moving abroad we will need more."

When asked where the money would be sourced, he said: "Private funding. I reckon we would need at least 10 times what we had [for Ireland] for the UK."

He added: "By the end of this year we'll be moving into the UK. If we meet targets here, which by all accounts we seem to be well ahead of, we have undertakings that funding will be there."

He said that the backers would be based mostly in Ireland or the UK.

Unlike Hailo, which takes a percentage of every cab fare, Lynk currently makes the majority of its revenue from membership fees paid by drivers who sign up to the service.

The fees are currently in the region of €70 per week, although drivers can reduce this by measures such as signing up a friend to the service.

The company is expecting to hit a turnover of €10m by the end of its financial year, which will be next March. Mr Ebbs said the company is currently on target to achieve that aim.

He admitted that he does not expect the UK expansion to be as rapid as the Irish one, saying that he would be "very happy if we were turning over €25m by the end of the first year".

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/taxi-app-lynk-to-get-25m-in-backing-for-uk-launch-31122191.html
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HailO

HailO's joke of the year was their piggyback press release. April fools day.

Not a bad effort. However follows of my blogs both here and MCR Blackcabs, will remember my friend Gordon. 

My pal Gordon, has worked the Northern Quarter of Manchester for years. He does not have a thriving business for all his efforts.

As I say, his name is Gordon, but, you can call him 'Flash'

So, hard luck HailO, Gordon and I beat you to it.

A controversial taxi service which uses 

mobile phone apps to book cars is 

coming to Wakefield.

Uber has successfully applied for a private hire operator’s licence from Wakefield Council.

Wakefield is the fifth British city to get the new services, which uses a smartphone app to connect passengers and drivers, cutting out the use of taxi companies.

Taxi drivers around the UK have voiced concerns over the regulation of the app, which they say is effectively a meter, which only black cabs are entitled to use.

No cash changes hands when taxis are booked through Uber, with charges automatically processed through the passenger’s card details.

Last June, a protest was held by cabbies in London bringing roads to a standstill and Leeds taxi drivers also protested last October at the arrival of Uber in the city.

Tom Elvidge, Uber’s general manager in Yorkshire, said 10,000 people in Wakefield had opened the app since it launched in Leeds.

http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/business/business-news/mobile-app-taxi-firm-to-arrive-in-wakefield-1-7143133

Comment:

Why have Uber picked Wakefield.? Wakefield borders Leeds southwards into West Yorks.

Uber  have shown their tactics here in Greater Manchester, I believe they will now plan further launches in Barnsley and then Sheffield.

That would then give them control over West Yorkshire, from North to South all along the M1 motorway corridor.

I would advise our West Yorks colleagues to monitor planning applications in Barnsley and Sheffield and perhaps arrange objections.

CONTROVERSIAL smartphone taxi company Uber — which allows people to book a minicab using an app on their mobile phone — is coming to Bolton.

A 12-month licence has been granted by Bolton Council allowing Uber to operate in the borough — and the firm has told The Bolton News it is excited about the prospect of coming to the town.

However, local private hire companies are unhappy, with one taxi boss predicting that firms could join forces to protest against the council.

In June last year, parts of London were brought to a standstill as black-cab drivers held a mass protest against Uber and the Transport for London authority — claiming that the firm was not being governed by the proper taxi regulations.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/12867236._/

As I predicted here last year. The Greater Manchester plate is here.

Uber have been issued a Bolton Operators Licence. It is quite obvious there is little attraction for an American Multi National Company to seize an opportunity in Bolton, with the exception of one fact : They now have four Licences, which in an almost straight line, dissect Greater Manchester from North to South.

From October 1, this year it will be legal for all those vehicles to work any of those four area's. 

We already know they have Stockport and Salford vehicles working here, we know Leeds vehicles are showing up here as well. We know Get Taxi are offering jobs to any Hackney (i.e. Liverpool) passing through the area.

From October 1. Arrow Cars will have the legal right to use Cars from four area's to service any of their four Airports, Including Manchester.

I know I spread 'Doom and Gloom', BUT, please wake up.

We are in for a dreadful winter.

GLASGOW. Hold the F**kin Bus.

I thought all Glasgow Taxis had to be Wheelchair Access. How many wheelchairs can you get in a Skoda Octavia ? ? ?

" GLASGOW taxi driver who fled abroad to avoid a rape charge has been found guilty of the sex attack.

Arshad Mohammed, 48, raped the 19-year-old woman in his Skoda taxi after driving her to a dead-end in Neilston, East Renfrewshire, in November 2010.

He was caught after police took a DNA sample when he was detained in March and April 2011 for making sexual remarks to two 17-year-old women.

Sentence on Mohammed was deferred and he was remanded in custody.

Pakistan-born Mohammed, who holds Italian citizenship, was convicted by majority verdict following a six day trial at the High Court in Stirling.

The court heard that the rape victim had got into his 50 50 Cabs Skoda taxi in her pyjamas, with a coat on top, following an evening watching television at a friend's house.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/glasgow-taxi-driver-guilty-of-raping-passenger-202057n.122140234

The Deregulation Bill Commencement Order has been signed. The Private Hire sections commence October 1.

Deregulation Bill and Manchester.

It will now be allowed by law, to use Out of Town PH Vehicles on MCR Operators circuits.

The most obvious case being Uber and Arrow Cars.

Arrow cars can now use PH Vehicles from 4 districts( MCr, Leeds, East Midlands and Bristol) to take work from Manchester Airport.

Uber Cars Manchester, Salford and Stockport, have now become Uber Greater Manchester (and beyond).

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/150326-0002.htm#15032625000606