Taxi Driver Online

Usual 'taxi' inaccuracy in headline, but also misleading in that he was only fined £100 for plying for hire

Oxfordshire taxi driver fined more than £1,000 for illegally plying for hire in Reading

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news ... n-reading/

A South Oxfordshire licensed taxi driver has been hit with a financial penalty of more than £1,000 after illegally plying for hire in Reading.

Khawaja Babar, 39, of Holberton Road in Reading – a licensed private hire driver for South Oxfordshire – was found guilty at Reading Magistrates’ Court of illegally plying for hire in Reading and giving false information to deceive a council officer.

Babar was seen parked in a bus stop outside a fast food shop in Friar Street, Reading, in the early hours of March 17 2018. When approached by council officers he untruthfully said he had just dropped off a customer.

Babar had previously received warnings not to park in the town centre without a booking.

He appeared at court on Monday January 14 2019, where he was found guilty and was ordered to pay sums totalling £1,100 - £100 for plying for hire, £253 for providing false information and £747 in legal costs.

Councillor Tony Page, lead councillor for strategic environment, planning and transport, said: “Thanks to the hard work of the council’s licensing team, we are sending out the message this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.

"I hope both these prosecutions serve as a deterrent to drivers who are tempted to work illegally and opportunistically in Reading.”

Test purchases and spot checks are carried out to protect the public by ensuring drivers and vehicles meet the standards set by Reading Borough Council and current taxi legislation.

One you don't see every day. Suppose it's a bit like perjury - something that happens a lot, but rarely prosecuted.

Possibly Sec 73 of the 1976 Act - Obstruction of authorised officers.

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IDFIMH