Taxi Driver Online

So that comes back to what I said initially - if a PH driver contracts with an office and the office is contracting with the customers, in what way is this different from the club? Herfordian says it's because the club only contracts with members, but if the relevant contract is the one between the car and the club, then surely the comparable contract with the usual office scenario is the one between the car and the office, in which case whoever the club and office contract with is irrelevant.

Is there any case law on this provision?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

http://www.pinkladiesmembers.co.uk Are not these people . doing what Kevin is doing . They advertise for chauffeuress ,not private hire drivers . as far as i am aware . There vehicles are not plated . This operation has the backing of just about every one, who is any one . There on there way to London, so there will be a few upset cabbies . Streetcar

Mr Hereford chap is not only a driver and vehicle owner, he is also acting as an operator.

As I said before if he could get work from an exempted operator, then he could do the work via the one contract, one vehicle exemption. But to be an operator he can have only one contracted customer. And that contract must be over seven days.

So he could do airport work for a regular customer, but that's all he can do with that vehicle.

But as he said he has in excess of 40 customers, so the only way out for him is to buy another 39 vehicles.

The case law for this is Pitts-v-Lewis 1989.

It appeared in June's PHM (on this different links )

The start of the judgement is,
http://www.phtm.co.uk/media/1119973895.pdf page 4 at the bottom.

The main part is,
http://www.phtm.co.uk/media/1119973956.pdf page 2.

And it finishes at,
http://www.phtm.co.uk/media/1119974009.pdf page 2.

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IDFIMH

But I only have ONE customer - the travel club. I do NOT have 40 customers. The legally indentifiable body that I trade with is the travel club!

Thanks for the links to the case though. My biggest concern was with taking cash from members on the night but the judge ruled that it is common place for milage charges to be made in the motor trade so that can not be used as evidence that I am operating in a taxi or private hire fashion.

From what i could read about this case, he basically failed to prove excemption because the car was not clearly identified in the contract. Had he included the reg number in the contract with the nightclub then the judgement would probabley have been different.

My contract with the club clearly identifies my car registration number and has a clearly defined period of operation.

Kevin

Doesn't this break sex discimination laws

Kevin

Then the Travel Club, or more importantly, the person who takes the booking is in breach of the law.

Do you really think that you are the only person in the last 30 years to try to get around the 1976 act? Don't you think that if what you are proposing/doing was pukka, then no-one would bother with PH licensing?

There are some very heavy players in this trade, form the large bus companies to the very large PH firms, don't you think that one of them would have tried it on?

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IDFIMH

The chances of all 40 member calling at the same time is limited. But most of these customers are regulars from when i used to be hc driver and they are prepared to wait till i'm free most of the time.

Sadly hc drivers (there are very few private hire cars in hereford) have a nasty habit of overcharging.

2 of the members live in ross on wye approx 14 miles from hereford. I used to pick them up regularly as a taxi and charged them the nght tarrif rate of 32.00 which they think is great because previously to finding me they were being charged anything from 40.00 to 50.00 to get home from the nightclubs. I have known them to wait over 30 minutes for me to pick them up.
Same with some of my regulars who live in monmouth. The meter rate should be 46.00 for the 19 miles or so but they have been charged upto 75.00 to go home. THey wait for me as well.

And of course the most horndous case of overcharging is my hay on wye members who have been charged 100.00 to go home from the nighclubs even though the night meter rate is 56.00.

I used to charge what was on the meter (sometimes less) and it's probably the reason why I was rarely found on the rank. I was alays kept busy with regulars who were prepared to wait.

I have no doubts that club members will wait for me if I give them a truthful estimated time of pick up and if it's too long then they can easily use a taxi. - it's me that's tied into an exclusive contract not them.

kevin

I dont know TDO will tell us that . But have a look at their web site . Apart from the gender issue, are they doing what your doing?streetcar.

[quote="streetcarhttp://www.pinkladiesmembers.co.uk Are not these people . doing what Kevin is doing . They advertise for chauffeuress ,not private hire drivers . as far as i am aware . There vehicles are not plated . This operation has the backing of just about every one, who is any one . There on there way to London, so there will be a few upset cabbies . Streetcar[/quote]


No it's not what i'm doing. As you can see from their web site they say they are providing private hire services, therefore they must be plated and badged or they are breaking the law.


kevin

No it's not what i'm doing. As you can see from their web site they say they are providing private hire services, therefore they must be plated and badged or they are breaking the law.


kevin[/quote]Well thats the only travel club ,i have ever heard obout. I am not sure if they are legal, or not .the vehicle i saw never had a plate on it . But i could be wrong .streetcar

It definately breaks the stupid's Law. Female only? So no boyfriends or husbands? Are mothers only allowed to bring female children with them? Diiscrimination or not, if you target a minority market, and I would suggest that a female only service does this, you limit your clients to one in ten of the available jobs out there.

But going back to the original thesis of this thread, in this enlightened parish, the CRB check is every other year. If your drivers licence is renewed ON TIME, before expiry date, the licensing officer issues the new badge, subject to recieving the CRB check back. However, any driver stupid enough to "forget to renew" before the expiry date, will be treated as a new applicant, and will have to wait for the return of the CRB check. This would seem to me to be entirely fair and equitable.

So my question to you, Herefordian, did your badge expire, or are the rules in Herefordianshire more onerous than they are here.

I mean, I don't want to call you a Stephen Byers, or what, but has this happened to anyone else that you know of. If it has maybe they could join your "travel club".

Incidentally, how long does it take to get to Ross-on-wye and Back?

Well this is the background.

My hc license expired on 12th October 2005.

At the beginning of September I was taking to a couple of drivers and mentioned that I hadn't had any forms for renewal and what does the council normally do? They advisd me to pop down to the council to check on the situation. So I did the next day.

I aksed the guy if I needed to reapply yet as my badge was due for renewal on 12th October and he said that the counil will send out a reminder when I needed to apply. He asked me if I needed a crb or medical and I said I needed another crb check as my was now 2 years old. He went to the cabinet got out my file and said ' umm arr yes, I put the forms in the post to you last night but just in case here, take theses fill them in and get them back here with your money as soon as possible' (btw those posted forms have still not turned up yet )

So I got the application and fees in by mid September. I have since checked with the crb unit and they recieved the forms from the council on 7th October 2005.

My employer spoke to the licensing unit at the beginning of October about what will happen if my crb did not come back in time and they said that they would take an employer reference until the crb returned.

So on the 10th October I turned up at the office with my employer and a letter of reference thinking that I'd get my badge and they decided to change their mind and not isue on references and I'd have to wait until the crb comes back.

I've spoken tonight to my local Taxi Drivers Association and they said the council should send out renewal reminders 12 weeks beofre your license is due for renewal.

So that's the background. One of the biggest benefits is that I now have quite a substantial knowledge of taxi and private hire law and regulations.
One of the things I will be doing when I have the funds together is to get licensed as a private hire company in Monmouth where I live as they have no age requirements on the car and I can still operate and advertise in Hereford where there's a lot more work.

There's a silver lining to every cloud

Kevin

Because I only work nights and so there's no traffic on the road I can get to ross on wye and back to hereford in approx 40 minutes.


Kevin

So what is your current relationship with this man you call 'your employer'?

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry