FIT AND PROPER


MANCHESTER-LICENSED DRIVER CAUGHT ILLEGALLY PLYING IN TRAFFORD BOROUGH AT UNITED MATCH


A taxi driver licensed by Man- chester City Council was caught illegally hunting for fares following a Manchester United match at Old Trafford. Guru Fatay Ronuk Singh, 44, was spotted by undercover licensing officers in January 2025. Singh, was parked in a bus stop on Chester Road with his “for hire” sign lit up.


When the undercover team asked for a lift to the city centre, Singh accepted the trip. Once the car was moving, the officers revealed their identities and ordered him to pull over. During a later interview, Singh confessed to using the sign to lure in passengers, though he claimed he simply forgot to switch it off,


admitting he made “a very big boo boo.”


The mistake proved expensive at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, where Singh was found guilty of plying for hire without insurance. He was ordered to pay a £180 fine, a £48 victim surcharge, and £180 in costs, while also receiving six points on his licence.


GLASGOW TAXI DRIVER SUSPENDED FOLLOWING CLAIMS OF ILLEGAL FARES AND THREATS


A Glasgow taxi driver has been handed a two-week suspension after he was accused of threat- ening a colleague who reported him for breaking licensing rules. Qamar Farooq faced a city council licensing committee following allegations that he refused to use


his meter and instead attempted to charge passengers a fixed price. The trouble began when a fellow driver claimed he witnessed Mr Farooq “refusing hires” and offering a group of women a flat £10 fee for a trip. When the witness reminded him he was required to


TORBAY CABBIE LOSES LICENCE OVER SAFETY & HARASSMENT CONCERNS


A Torbay taxi driver has been stripped of his licence


after


councillors ruled he was a risk to the public for making video calls while driving plus driving without car tax more than 40 times. The unnamed driver also faced several police reports of harass- ment but claimed he was simply the “unluckiest person” and was being unfairly targeted by others. Torbay Council’s regulatory sub- committee decided to revoke his driving and operating licences immediately, noting long-standing patterns of poor behaviour.


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The committee also heard that the driver had sat outside a business partner’s home in the middle of the night and sent an “excessive” amount of text messages. Councillors found his excuse that people were colluding against him, including other cabbies, to be “fanciful.” The council stated the driver’s actions showed a “lack of self-awareness and responsibility.” Because of the safety and conduct issues, the committee concluded he was not a fit and proper person to continue working as a taxi driver or operator in the area.


“ensure that a taximeter fitted in the taxi shall be operated at all times,” Mr Farooq allegedly responded “extremely aggressively.” Mr Farooq denied the claims, stating he only told the passengers the fare “would be approximately £10” and that other potential cus- tomers were too drunk to pick up. The situation escalated after Mr Farooq was called in for a formal interview with enforcement officers. The committee heard that the very next day, he “approached the taxi driver who had submitted the online complaint against him and threatened him for doing so.” Councillors were shown a video of the exchange, leading Committee Chair Cllr Sean Ferguson to tell Mr Farooq: “What we have seen, you did behave in a very aggressive manner. The way you behaved in that video was profoundly unfortunate.” Despite some councillors pushing for a month-long ban, the committee ultimately voted 3-2 in favour of a shorter two-week suspension.


APRIL 2026 PHTM


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