FIT AND PROPER
PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER CAUGHT PLYING FOR HIRE IN GLASGOW BANNED FOR TWO WEEKS
A private hire driver who was caught picking passengers up from the street has been banned from working for two weeks. Mr Zafarullah was warned he “could have lost everything” after he was seen ‘pirating’ in the city. Enforcement officers from Glasgow City Council spotted Mr Zafarullah accept two customers, who hadn’t pre-booked, outside a nightclub on Sauchiehall Street. Cllr Alex Wilson, who chairs the
city’s licensing committee, said ‘pirating’ is the “scourge of Glasgow”. He added: “You should have said: ‘I’m sorry I cannot pick you up, you have to phone or get a black cab.’ If you had an accident, they could have sued you for everything you have got. That is the seriousness of pirating.” An enforcement officer told councillors that one of the people who approached the driver’s car confirmed they had not booked.
Mr Zafarullah said he had been “very frustrated” after a night of “no shows.” He said: “This is by no means an excuse for what I did,” adding he had no previous complaints. Cllr Wilson said: “You were about to pick up passengers and put them into your vehicle, do you know the minute they step into your vehicle your insurance isn’t valid? Councillors suspended the driver for two weeks with immediate effect.
GLASGOW PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER WHO HAD FILTHY CAB SUSPENDED FOR FOUR WEEKS
A private hire driver who continued to pick up passengers despite being suspended has been handed a four-week ban. Usman Shoukat was pulled over last December as he had failed to display required signs in his rear windows and his car was “filthy”. He was given a suspension and told he couldn’t operate until the problems had been fixed. He claimed there had been a misunderstanding and he didn’t realise he had been suspended. On 15 March councillors on the city’s licensing committee handed him a four-week suspension. Cllr Alex Wilson said the driver had been “putting the public at risk” as once suspended his insurance was invalid. He added: “When someone says you’re suspended, that means you do not do anything else, you don’t pick up other passengers.” Mr Shoukat was pulled over during a joint initiative between the council’s taxi and private hire
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enforcement unit and Police Scotland, after he was seen with “no rear signage displayed”. An enforcement officer told councillors that the sign was found in the back of the car, which was “filthy”. He was
“instructed he
couldn’t operate until the vehicle was presented back to officers with the defects rectified”. However, later that night Police Scotland saw Mr Shoukat carrying passengers. Councillors were told the driver had taken two jobs since the suspension was issued. Cllr Wilson told the driver the incident had been a “catalogue of errors on your behalf.” Mr Shoukat said he works for two private hire firms and usually switches between their signs. He said he “wasn’t aware” his plates had been removed by enforcement officers as he was inside the vehicle. The driver also said he had passengers in the car when he was
stopped, so continued to drop them off. However,
councillor
Wilson said he had picked up more passengers after that journey. Mr Shoukat claimed there had been a “mix-up”. He said: “If I had known I was suspended, I would have stopped straight away.” He said he hadn’t read paperwork given to him by the officers. Cllr Wilson said: “Our enforcement team would have said to you ‘we’re suspending your licence’. You are just making this worse for yourself and showing us that you are not a responsible person to be driving around Glasgow. “There’s nothing to say you cannot work for multiple platforms, but you must have signage showing.” The driver asked to be let off with a warning as he had never been before the committee before and promised it wouldn’t happen again. However,
councillors
decided to issue the four-week suspension with immediate effect.
APRIL 2023 PHTM
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