quite right tooFIVE taxi driversPH Drivers have been fined for illegally picking up passengers in Bolton town centre.
During November and December last year, a number of private hire drivers were caught accepting passengers who had not made a booking.
Bolton Council’s trading standards team was carrying out the crackdown on the drivers who appeared at Bolton Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.
Mazam Hussain, Charanjit Singh, Mudassar Ahmed, Ryan Wong and Zafar Khan were all found guilty of plying for hire and fined between £130 and £440.
They were all also found guilty of using a vehicle without insurance for that purpose and fined between £130 and £440 each and given eight points on their licence.
Each driver was also fined costs of £500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge between £31 and £44.
Councillor Nick Peel, executive cabinet member for environmental services said: “It is important to remind both drivers and members of the public that private hire vehicles must only be booked through the operator. They cannot be flagged down in the same way as licensed hackney carriages.
“Customers should be aware of the safety implications, as many passengers will not realise that if a private hire vehicle is not booked through an operator, it may not be licensed and may not be covered by an insurance policy should an accident occur.
“We hope that these fines serve as a warning to other drivers, all of whom should be fully aware that this is illegal.”
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