Taxi driver banned from working in Lichfield after court upholds council’s decision not to renew his licencehttps://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2018/09/01/ ... s-licence/A taxi driver has been told he cannot operate in Lichfield after a court upheld a decision not to renew his licence.
Lichfield District Council won the case against Mohammed Chowdhury at Stoke Crown Court after the local authority had opted not to renew his taxi driver’s licence following complaints about him and carrying out a series of mystery shopper tests.
The council said the Birmingham-based driver had overcharged, failed to give receipts and been abusive to a passenger.
Chowdhury had appealed a previous court ruling, but an appeal at Stoke Crown Court found in the council’s favour.
Cllr Ashley Yeates, Cabinet member for regulatory services, housing and wellbeing, said: “It’s so important that we have the authority to monitor any taxi drivers that operate within the district, to make sure they are offering a good service and are safe.
“This is why we’re really pleased with the Crown Court’s ruling to uphold our decision to reject Mr Chowdhury’s licence renewal application.
“We do not want any taxi drivers with poor customer service to work locally.”
The court ordered Chowdhury to pay the council’s costs of £6,000 which, when added to the £5,000 costs from the original Magistrates’ Court case, makes a total of £11,000 in costs.
For completeness, this was the article about the earlier appeal to the magistrates' court:
Taxi driver ABUSIVE to lone female at night and OVERCHARGED passengersviewtopic.php?f=1&t=32490A taxi driver who abused a lone female passenger and was also caught overcharging by mystery shoppers has lost his licence. Lichfield District Council officers rejected Mohammed Chowdhury’s taxi licence renewal following a number of complaints.
Chowdhury, aged 48, from Starbank Road, Birmingham, appealed the decision but first the council’s Licensing Committee and now Newcastle under Lyme Magistrates’ Court upheld the officers’ decision. Newcastle under Lyme Magistrates’ Court has found in favour of Lichfield District Council after a taxi driver appealed the council’s decision not to renew his taxi driver’s licence. The court has now ordered Chowdhury to pay Lichfield District Council’s costs of £5,000.
The case revealed that, despite receiving a warning about professional conduct, complaints continued and Lichfield District Council carried out mystery shopper tests on Chowdhury. The test purchasers were overcharged, not given receipts and, on one occasion, the meter was not even on.
In a further case, Chowdhury was abusive to a woman making a journey on her own at night. The driver first appealed to Lichfield District Council’s Licensing Committee after council officers rejected his application to renew his taxi licence. On October 18, Newcastle under Lyme Magistrates’ Court upheld the council's decision.
Councillor Doug Pullen, cabinet member for regulatory, housing and wellbeing, said: “The taxi drivers we licence must meet the professional standards we expect of them. "We take any complaints into conduct very seriously, and regularly carry out mystery shopper tests to make sure taxis that operate across the district are delivering the service we expect.
"We are pleased with the court’s ruling to uphold our decision not to renew Mr Chowdhury’s licence, as we do not want taxi drivers who do not have their customers’ best interests at heart to operate locally.”
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Why are the costs in both appeals so high here? 
