Taxi Driver Online

A porter at one of the hotels we have a contract with has been running guests around in one of their company vehicles. We have been turning up for booked jobs only to find the porter has already taken them. The vehicle is a van for general use and is not licensed nor is the porter, he's doing it as a favour.

Obviously the van isn't insured for hire and reward but have any laws been breached ? There's no payment taking place (who's to say the passengers don't drop a couple of quid as thanks ?) but as the porter is being paid an hourly rate for doing his portering job whilst driving guests around could this in some way be seen as the 'reward' part of hire and reward ? He is technically being paid (rewarded) for driving just not by the guests and as such does he need the appropriate insurance ?

Does a transaction have to take place between driver and passenger directly for an offence to occur or is payment in any form received by a driver sufficient ?

Rout v Swallow Hotels Ltd (1993) RTR 80 – free minibus provided by a hotel, it was held there was a vehicle required to be licensed as it was being used for hire or reward.

Also:

DPP v Sikondar (1993) RTR90 – motorist ferried his own and daughters of friends and relatives to school on a regular basis with parents making intermittent payments to cover the cost of petrol –this was hire or reward – there was a systematic carrying of passengers for reward which went beyond the bounds of mere social kindness

and

St Albans District Council v Taylor (1991) Crim I.R852 DC- an offence was committed when a private hire operator asked his wife to drive a customer in her own vehicle and did not charge - it was held a commercial benefit was obtained and this was ”hire or reward”.

Thanks to John Burch of the Confederation of Passenger Transport for these links.

Maybe the mods would like to copy these with the transcripts of the cases to the court Case Database section for future reference.

As for the OP, the passengers travelling in the van will be uninsured, as will the driver! Why porters/bar staff/hotel managers think they're doing "someone a favour" is beyond me.

Basically if the porter is only running guests from A to B, then it's illegal.

However if he has a sign up saying free rides for anyone, and allows people off the street to have such free rides, then that's possibly legal.

But the scenario you outline mirrors the Swallows Hotel case, i.e. 100% illegal.

Report it to your council and/or the local press.

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IDFIMH

They are there already, and have been for years.

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IDFIMH

Thanks for that Sussex. I'm new on here and haven't had time to scan through all the legal postings yet.

But yes, if the porter offered free lifts to anyone, that's ok according to Rout v Swallow. that is the case I quote on a bus preservation column when it comes to buses giving "free" rides on enthusiasts running days where the organise pays for the diesel out of sales of programmes.

A lot of us hit this problem...but common sense dictates you have to tolerate a certain amount, otherwise if you start spouting off this law or that law to the venues concerned you end up with no work at all..

Id rather lose a little of something than all of something but not to the extent where doing nothing is cheaper than doing something just for the sake of it.

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

Just a bit more info which I doubt makes any difference to the case in question. The van the porter uses is'nt a free service the hotel offers just something the porters decided to do off his own back, I doubt the management even know about it. It's not something the porter does regularly but occasionaly enough for it to be an issue (three maybe four times a night) but that's out of the 12-20 bookings we get.

The problem is guests ask the reception to call a taxi, the porter overhears them and offers them a lift instead - but doesn't tell the receptionist to cancel the booking so we turn up to find it's a no job. It's been reported to our managers who are going to take it up with the hotel, which shouldn't be a problem as it's part of a national chain and our contract states that when guests/staff require a taxi they have to use us (if the hotel books it). And certainly if the hotel bosses don't know one of their staff is using a company vehicle to give free rides without permission i'm sure they'd want to know.

This would in my view come under the DPP-v-Sikondar scenario. A one-off trip is social kindness, 4 times a night is taking the p155.

I'm sure the porter's bosses would be horrified to know that in the event of an accident involving their van, staff or guests, they would be liable for permitting a vehicle to be used without insurance. Not only that, but the porter is misappropriating the company's fuel to run people about, driving without the correct licence, driving whilst uninsured, driving without the owner's consent, and more.

No doubt he gets a tip for doing so, and is therefore being rewarded for his trouble. He is also stealing from YOU, your colleagues and your company.

If I were the hotel manager, this man would be on a disciplinary charge for gross misconduct.

Maybe you know someone who is a "hotel guest" who could send an email complaint to the hotel regarding this matter.

'Ave a day off!

I miss the days when you could do someone a favour without getting caught up in red tape, these days sadly Big Brother watches us all.

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There's no excuse for animal abuse. If you ain't vegan you are an animal abuser.

Breaking the law to do a favour for complete strangers? Get a grip.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The porter might be a the salt of the earth, but at the same time he's taking the very food out of Taxi or PH drivers mouths. If It's his own little Scam and not part of the Hotels service I think you should stop being Mr Nice and give the guy an Ultimatum, Either to stop or be shopped, The LA might not care but Mr HMRC would just love to find an easy victim, and they have real worry power.

I would think the manager would like to know what is happening, as while the porter is off on his free trips which the Hotel pay for buy supplying the fuel the porter is away from the hotel so he is not doing the job he is paid to do.Get your office to ring and speak to the manager and ask if he is aware of what is happening.

Red tape doesn't come into it. The porter is breaking the law and doing US out of business. ~Like I said earlier, once in a while is probably ok, several times a night is different according to DPP-v-Sikondar!

What no tips says sounds like a good idea.

I like "No Tips" response as a first point of action.

Of course, if the Manager knows that his Porter is offering this Service, and it is part of his Job Description, then Insurance is the responsibility of the Hotel and a whole new can of worms enters the fray!

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

get your local licensing officer to call round to the hotel and asked them why they are not licensed as a private hire company

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!