IN THE NEWS CARDIFF TAXI LEADER VOWS
A taxi drivers’ leader has declared war on private hire drivers by vowing to sue them for allegedly picking up so-called flag downs. Mathab Khan, chair- man of hackney
the city’s carriage
TO SUE PHV DRIVERS FOR ILLEGAL PICK-UPS alleged
association, claims some private hire vehicles are costing Cardiff’s black and white drivers around £2m a year in lost fares. Mr Khan said he has repeatedly ap- proached the council to inform it of the
licence
breaches in the hope it would take action but claims the authori- ty is allowing private hire drivers to flout the law. He said that in one weekend last month, members of
the
Cardiff Hackney Car- riage
Association
recorded 127 PHVs operating illegally, and they are now willing to bring a civil action against any PHV driv- er picking up flag downs. Mr Khan said he has
requested the names and addresses of the drivers whose licence plates he has reported from the council but it has refused. “This has been going for the past five years and the council are doing nothing about it,” he told walesonline. “Since August I have reported more than 100 drivers to Cardiff Council, giving them the time and place they were illegally working and their plate number. I’ve also provided them with examples of
legal Vehicle Manufacturers Vehicle Compatibility Questionnaire
RELATING TO THE CONSULTATION ON THE REVIEW OF THE HACKNEY CARRIAGE VEHICLE POLICY
Manchester City Council is currently reviewing its hackney carriage vehicle policy
If you wish your vehicle to be considered as suitable to be licensed as a hackney carriage vehicle, please complete and return the Conditions of Fitness - Vehicle Compatibility Questionnaire available from Wednesday 9 January at:
www.manchester.gov.uk/taxi/vehicleconsultation
The questionnaire should be returned by Friday 8 February 2013
in the first instance in order to be considered as part of this review
Relevant background information is available at
www.manchester.gov.uk/taxi
PAGE 18
precedents in case they want to prose- cute. “The council has con- tinued to ignore me about this issue so I’ve requested they pro- vide me with the names and addresses of all those I’ve report- ed so that
association will not support illegal actions and we believe every- one should obey the rules. “If these guys are out there plying for hire, and they’re on a PHV circuit,
it begs the I can
prosecute them on behalf of the associa- tion. Unfortunately they don’t want to give me the details though.” He added: “These drivers are constantly flouting the law and the authorities are allowing it to happen. I’m having so many complaints from my members
because
they are losing around £2,000 a year each – that’s about £2m.” Bryan Roland, general secretary of
the
National Private Hire Association, said he was aware some pri- vate hire drivers had taken to picking up passengers without bookings in order to boost their income. But condemning their actions he said: “As an association we do not defend the crimi- nal actions of any of our members. We tell them if
they have
been caught driving too fast or illegally plying for hire then don’t come to us. This
question: Why isn’t that circuit more in control of its drivers? Or is it the real case that these are unli- censed drivers, or drivers from out of town. Most private hire circuits that I know about on a Friday and Saturday night are far too busy to allow their drivers to go off and do their own thing. I know of several – as I used to do – where if a driver illegally plies, he’s taken off plot for the rest of the week- end.” A Cardiff Council spokeswoman said: “Licensing enforce- ment officers have investigated
Mr
Khan’s claims with regard to PHVs illegal- ly plying for hire. They have extensively moni- tored the area in which Mr Khan claims this to be happening, which has included ‘mystery shopper’ type exercis- es. “There is no evidence to show that the pri- vate hire vehicles parked in the area are illegally plying for hire, they are acting legiti- mately and simply waiting for pre-booked fares. Officers have checked evidence of fare bookings. “There are many busi- nesses and hotels in the area that frequent- ly utilise private hire contracts,
which
accounts for the num- ber of private hire vehicles in the area. We are unable to divulge
personal
details of individual drivers to Mr Khan due to Data Protection Act restrictions.”
PHTM JANUARY 2013
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