TAXI LAW EXPLAINED
COVID-19 AND THE LICENSED TRADE – YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
This article was supplied by: Stephen McCaffrey Head of Taxi Defence Barristers and Taxi Defence Scotland 020 7060 4773
www.taxidefencebarristers.co.uk www.taxidefencescotland.co.uk
The Covid-19 outbreak is unprecedented. It is an unfortunate situation for hackney carriage and private hire licence holders who will inevitably be most severely affected by this. Whilst the Government has announced measures to mitigate the impact, most licence holders are self- employed and do not enjoy the same benefits as employees, for example.
In this article I hope to provide some guid- ance and answers to the most common questions asked by the trade during this time.
SCHOOL CONTRACTS
There have been a lot of questions regard- ing the position with regard to school contracts. Understandably this is a very worrying time for hackney carriage and private hire drivers since they generally have less employment and income protec- tion.
There is no general contract provision that will apply to school contracts around the country and each local authority will have its own terms and conditions. It is therefore difficult to give advice and assurances to the trade in respect of this.
However, a number of general observations and comments will hopefully assist:
1. Licence holders need to carefully check the wording of their contract to see if there is any provision for compensation or paid notice periods.
2. Business continuity/interruption insur- ance could fill the gap left by the cancellation of school contracts. Licence holders should take advice on any insur- ance cover they may have.
3. Given the circumstances we currently face, it might be that local authorities will
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transfer those contracts from transport- ing school children to children of school workers, front line staff or delivery of food packages to elderly/vulnerable. In other words, school transport contracts could be commandeered to fulfil contracts for other local government purposes. Speak to your contract provider about this.
4. Licence holders who have had contracts cancelled without any other options or insurance would likely need to take advantage of the Government’s relief pro- posals for small business facing disruption due to Covid-19.
REFUSING FARES
In law, there are essentially two options available to drivers:
Taxi journeys that start and end in the area where that driver is licensed (controlled dis- trict) cannot be refused without reasonable excuse.
Taxi journeys that start in the controlled dis- trict but end outside of that area can be refused as there is no statutory duty on the driver to accept a booking outside of the controlled district.
S.53 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 states:
“A driver of a hackney carriage standing at any of the stands for hackney carriages appointed by the commissioners, or in any street, who refuses or neglects, without reasonable excuse, to drive such carriage to any place within the prescribed dis- tance, or the distance to be appointed by any byelaw of the commissioners, not exceeding the prescribed distance to which he is directed to drive by the person hiring or wishing to hire such carriage, shall
for every such offence be liable to a penal- ty not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.”
A driver of a taxi (or hackney carriage) can only refuse to carry passengers within a controlled district if he has reasonable excuse to do so. What constitutes “reason- able excuse” is ultimately a matter for a court of law to determine.
In reference to the coronavirus, what is cer- tain is that fares cannot be refused simply based on the nationality or ethnicity of a passenger.
It would arguably be reasonable if they, or any other person, appear to be presenting symptoms. It can, in practical terms, of course be hard to make this decision partic- ularly as taxi drivers are not medical experts.
What could also be relevant is acting on national advice. For example, a taxi driver may feel more comfortable with carrying a single person or perhaps a couple as opposed to a large group.
The legal test and therefore overriding con- sideration remains whether the decision to refuse the fare would constitute a “reason- able excuse”. Under the circumstances it would be very difficult for a licensing authority to show beyond reasonable doubt that a cautious approach or one based on official advice was unreasonable unless it is clear that the decision to refuse the fare was purely based on the passengers’ nationality or ethnicity.
DIFFICULTIES WITH COMPLYING WITH REQUIREMENTS
The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has, in some cases very suddenly, thrown up diffi-
APRIL 2020
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