NICKED BY LTDA! TfL has consistently failed to act against Uber, so the LTDA decided to “go it alone” On Thursday 17th July, three Uber drivers appeared before District Judge Riddle at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, accused of using a vehicle to which a London PHV Licence relates and which was equipped with a taximeter, contrary to Section 11 of The Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998. The court hearing stemmed from a private prosecution, brought solely by the LTDA, to test the legality of the entire Uber set-up a“n d , i n p a r t i c u l a r , i t s r e l i a n c e o n a metering device to calculate the cost IT WAS REVEALED THAT TFL DID NOT EVEN POSSESS A COPY OF” THE UBER DRIVERS’ INSTRUCTION MANUAL of minicab journeys. Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director for Surface Transport, had previously stressed that TfL had undertaken “very careful investigation” into the structure of Uber’s procedures, and concluded that there were no grounds to prosecute Uber drivers. Surprisingly, just prior to the court hearing, it was revealed that TfL did not even possess a copy of the Uber drivers’ instruction manual, which outlined the procedure for charging passengers. TfL panic Doubts regarding the way Uber operates were first raised with TfL in August 2012 - TfL declined to act. Further and more detailed concerns were raised in August 2013 - TfL declined to act. These concerns were reinforced by detailed legal opinion in December 2013 and through into 2014 - TfL declined to act. Ultimately, the LTDA threatened to take matters into its own hands, by way of a private prosecution. TfL then panicked, and announced that, after two years of delay, it was suddenly inspired to refer the matter to the High Court, but was now blocked from doing so, because the LTDA had got in first! Legal pitfalls Private prosecutions are notoriously difficult to get off the ground. All the pitfalls of the UK’s legal system are stacked against those who seek to ‘go it alone’. The LTDA initially investigated the activities of six Uber drivers. Due to technical reasons only three drivers appeared in court on the July 17, but further prosecutions are likely to follow. Once again the LTDA is leading the fight to protect the livelihood of London’s 25,000 licensed taxi drivers, and I can assure readers that we will not give up the battle. This was just a preliminary hearing and the full trial has been set for December. The LTDA has the determination and funds to pursue this one all the way, and we will. n
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 09:36:20 +0000
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