The Law & You
by Derek Cummins ©
Non-Payment of Fare-Is it a Civil Matter? (a)they are made available on the basis that more thing - never accept part payment;
Bilk/ Bilk·ing (trans vb) payment has been, is being or will be made under legislation you cannot charge more
1. To defraud, cheat, or swindle: made for or in respect of them, than the tariff sheet, but you can charge less,
millions bilking wealthy clients on art sales. (b)he obtains them without any payment and therefore in the eyes of the law there
2. To evade payment of: bilk oneʼs debts. having been made for or in respect of them would be no case to answer
3. To elude. or without payment having been made in full,
Bilker (n.) and A Little Bit of Trivia
1. One who cheats. (c)when he obtains them, he knows—
(i)that they are being made available on the Not for the fi rst time, last month we received
We have run this particular Law & You basis described in paragraph (a), or a query from a cabbie asking
several times, but we keep getting asked to (ii)that they might be, but intends that a) Am I committing an offence if I donʼt carry
clarify the legal position, mainly because the payment will not be made, or will not be a bale of hay and a sack of oats in the boot
response of the police is patchy to say the made in full. b) Am I allowed to relieve myself on the
least “Itʼs a civil matter mate take them to nearside rear wheel of the taxi
the small claims”. The problem is that there The Usain Bolt scenario is covered by the
are varying degrees of non-payment; on one section below and THAT is an arrestable You will all be delighted to hear that you no
hand there is the ʻgentlemanʼ and sometimes offence plain and simple longer have to carry a bale of hay for the
lady that opens the door and takes off like poor nag - in fact in the provinces cabbies
Usian Bolt, now thereʼs an outside chance Theft Act 1978 Section 3. didnʼt have to (unless it was a bylaw long
that he (or she) is training for the Olympics, Making off without payment.— a person since repealed). The requirement to carry
but if that happens to you, youʼre on fairly who, knowing that payment on the spot food for the horse was contained in Section
safe ground that he (or she) is trying to for any goods supplied or service done is 51 of the London Cab Act 1831 and was only
evade payment. And the opposite of that is required or expected from him, dishonestly repealed in 1976.
the person that refuses to pay because they makes off without having paid as required or
think they are being overcharged or the cab expected and with intent to avoid payment of The ʻJimmy Riddleʼ question is a little harder
driver has taken them on a tour of the area. the amount due shall be guilty of an offence. (if youʼll forgive the pun), I am informed by all
and sundry that it is still an active law, but I
With the passing of the Fraud Act has Finally there is non-payment because cannot fi nd any reference to the legislation.
made the situation clearer that if a person the hirer is dissatisfi ed with the service or There are two schools of thought; fi rstly that
hires a taxi without the means to pay, they believes they have been ʻripped-offʼ because it is part of London Taxi legislation and it
are committing an offence. Therefore the of a faulty meter or that the driver has not allowed a cabman to relieve himself on the
“I thought I had a £20 note - I must have taken the most direct route. Situations like rear nearside wheel provided that a Police
lost it” or “I thought Iʼd be able to pay at the these are not covered by the aforementioned offi cer shielded him from the public with his
other end but my mum/dad etc havenʼt got legislation and the police then quite cape. The second one is more likely and
any money” cannot now be considered a legitimately say that it is a civil matter and that it applies to all male car drivers and was
civil matter would probably suggest a compromise. probably passed in the early years of the 20
th
Nevertheless, you can point out to the police century, and it states that a male may urinate
Obtaining services dishonestly Section 11 that it is an offence for a taxi or private hire by his vehicle so long as the stream hits the
Fraud Act 2006 driver to prolong a journey (section 69 Local nearside rear wheel and his right hand is
Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act on the vehicle roof (we can only guess why
(1)A person is guilty of an offence under this 1976) and it also illegal to charge more than the legislators wanted the right hand out of
section if he obtains services for himself or the table of fares (s54,s55 of s58 of Town harmʼs way).
another— Police Clause Act 1847 depending on the
(a)by a dishonest act circumstance) and suggest that they pay you If anyone out there can shed more light on
(2)A person obtains services in breach of this and then make a formal complaint against the “Iʼll have a P please Bob” please contact
subsection if— you if they are so aggrieved. Oh and one us, and please donʼt take the p*sssss…
CCTV plan for Glasgow taxis
PASSENGERS hiring any of the 1000-plus fl eet However, although the CCTV move has been Trials in East Renfrewshire were carried out
of taxis in Glasgow could soon be caught on welcomed by the trade it has been condemned this year, including one in the cab of a driver
closed-circuit television. by Green Party councillors in Glasgow and who had been seriously assaulted while
city MSP Patrick Harvie, who said the party working in January.
The move, which is designed to enhance “remains completely opposed to creeping video
the safety of drivers and the public, could surveillance of this sort”. When a vehicle was fi tted with a CCTV system,
be implemented by the end of the year and orange A5-size warning notices were fi xed to
extended into the hundreds of private hire cars Licensing chiefs are now set to begin a six-week the vehicle and the drivers asked to ensure
also operating in Glasgow. It comes on the back consultation with the Information Commissioner, all passengers travelling in their vehicles were
of a Scottish Government survey that found one Strathclyde Police and representatives of the informed of the operation of the CCTV system. No
in three taxi drivers had been assaulted at work. taxi and private hire car trades to discuss how complaints have been received about the use of
the scheme could operate over civil liberties. the systems and the council claims the scheme
It also follows the case of London taxi driver appears to have been welcomed.
John Worboys, who was recently jailed for One issue the council will have to confront is
drugging female passengers by spiking the type of system that would be used and the Robert Dunabie, of Glasgow TOA Taxis, said:
champagne and then sexually assaulting them. assurance it could not be tampered with by “This would improve the overall feeling of
It is believed he was responsible for almost third parties, including drivers, and making sure security within the cab but it would have to be a
100 attacks. recorded images were not able to be changed. system drivers could not tamper with”.
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