Taxi Driver Online

Reading Festival taxi driver fined after sting operation

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/readi ... operation/

The 44-year-old taxi driver was found guilty of accepting the covert customer's fare without a booking, invalidating his insurance.

A taxi driver has been fined after being caught accepting an illegal fare during an undercover sting operation.

Syed Hamdani, 44, of Myrtle Crescent, Slough, agreed to take an undercover licensing officer from Reading Borough Council to Bracknell for £60 without a booking during last year’s Reading Festival.

The hackney carriage driver was approached by the covert council officer in Cremyll Road in Reading, Berkshire, near the festival site, at about 11.30pm on August 25, 2017.

Neither the driver, car or passenger would have been insured had Hamdani made the journey.

Hamdani, a taxi driver licensed by the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, was found guilty of charges relating to illegally plying for hire and failing to display his badge at a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court on Tuesday, June 5.

Hamdani was fined £650 for each offence and ordered to pay costs of £1,420 and a victim surcharge of £65.

The taxi driver did not attend court but made a written submission and denied the charges.

Councillor Tony Page, Reading's lead councillor for strategic environment, planning and transport, said: "Licensing officers carry out these operations to protect members of the public from taking journeys in taxis which do not have the relevant licence.

"The driver in this case has been left considerably out of pocket after agreeing to take a passenger illegally for the sake of a £60 fare.

"I hope this acts as a deterrent to other taxi drivers who may be tempted to flout the law in Reading."

So he was fined £650 for plying for hire and £650 for failing to display badge?

Did the prosecutors actually see his insurance certificate or just assume that because he was plying for hire he was not insured?

And another one, Windsor-licensed car plying for hire in Reading, but PH this time.

This guy seems to have gotten off pretty lightly cash-wise compared to the other one, particularly since this one was PH, was falsely displaying a taxi sign, and would appear to have removed his plates.

Private hire driver fined after illegally plying for trade in Reading

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/priva ... n-reading/

A Maidenhead and Windsor taxi driver has been ordered to pay £1,000 after council officers observed him illegally plying for hire in Reading.

A private hire driver has been forced to pay £1,000 after illegally plying for hire in Reading last year.

Alyas Mahmood, 45, of Greathill Crescent, Maidenhead, became the second taxi driver successfully prosecuted at Reading Magistrates' Court this month for illegally plying for hire in Reading, Berkshire.

The licensed private hire driver from Windsor and Maidenhead, was spotted by Reading Borough Council officers in Friar Street plying for trade at 12.38am on Sunday, December 17.

Mahmood falsely displayed a taxi roof sign and failed to display a Private Hire Vehicle badge or plate while parked in a Reading Hackney Carriage taxi rank.

He pleaded guilty at court on Friday, June 8, and was ordered to pay fines totalling £600, a £30 victim surcharge and £340 in legal costs.

Private hire drivers are only allowed to pick up fares booked in advance.

Councillor Tony Page, lead member 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."

The council's licensing team carries out test purchases and spot checks to ensure drivers and vehicles meet the council's standards and adhere to current taxi legislation.

_________________
IDFIMH

A charge was put before the court and the prosecution proved the charge.

The defendant could have attended or sent a letter from his insurance company confirming that he was covered, neither happened so the case was proved.

_________________
IDFIMH

T & C's attached to the license probably invalidated the insurance

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector