Taxi Driver Online

Hello, been looking around this forum but cant find this topic:

In Gloucester it seems to be the norm for Private Hire Cars to be allowed to park up on double yellows outside night clubs to wait for a booking to be taken from a person with a clip-board, who asks customers leaving the club if they need a taxi home! If the customer replies "yes please", there details are taken and they are then sent to the next PH car in the queue!

This now happens outside 3 nightclubs in Gloucester, is this going on in other tows and citys, and is it legal? Our Council and Police say yes, but I am not so sure!

i think this falls under touting and as far as im aware you cannot tout for buissness or enlist someone else to do so on your behalf and this is clearly touting it would be differnt if they had a booking office outside the night club and people freely went there with out being intercepted by p/h staff as for the p/h cars queuing outside on double yellows they are not allowed as they will be seen as being parked on double yellows the only time you can i beleive is when you have a booking and i think you only get so long you can wait on dble yellows before you have to move on also it could be seen as the private hire cars are ranking giving the impression they are hackney carraige which again is illegal

have a look on the legal issues thread

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=2659

4. Is it an offence for a PHV to ply for hire or tout for custom on a public highway or in a public place?

Under current legislation it is an offence for both Hackney carriage and Private hire drivers to tout for custom in a public place or on a public highway. It is also an offence for any vehicle or driver who is not licensed to ply for hire on a public highway, to obtain custom by any other means than the one they are licensed for.

I would say that's not in line with current licensing laws.

But I would have thought this has to be the easiest prosecution a council could have.

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IDFIMH

I'd be well pi*** off if i was a hac in that town, you need to enlighten the LO to the law's.

I am not a great one for reading laws and legislation.

I would ask two questions.

Is the booking agent(?) working on the night club's private property with permission of the club?

If so, I can't see how this part (the accepting of a booking) is illegal.

If working on public thoroughfare then it surely is touting.

Are the drivers involved in seeking work? i.e outside the car asking folks if they need a cab?

We come back to the fact that Police/Authorities are prepared to ignore the 'hard' definition of the law in favour ofwhat they deem 'to be in the public interest'.

They want these kids off the street and on their way home. If 75% of the hacks are parked up in owners driveways at the time then they will turn to the next best option.

You don't demand/expect they prosecute everybody doing 32mph, they turn a blind eye until you are doing 35mph. Non hacks will see a decision to allow PH's to operate in the system you describe as a similar 'flexibility' of the law.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

A large element of truth there.

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IDFIMH

Yes the booking agent is working with clubs permission, standing on the exit door to a public road, the private hire company’s pay for this agent to be there, ( 2 or 3 private hire firms club together) - but they are asking people leaving the club if they want a taxi, surely this must be touting?

2 of the clubs in question exits are onto a public highway, the 3rd club we are told is a private road, but the private road is also a access road for the Gloucester city leisure center, so we say it must also be a public right of way. City council say it is a private road, so all is legal, as it is managed by a private agent on behalf of the city council owned leisure center and the private owned night club!

Most certainly is.

Why not send your LO an e-mail with a link to this thread, cos I would be quite interested to find out why he/she allows this to happen?

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IDFIMH

I must mention, this all started a couple of years ago when a new night club (interaction) applied for a night club license ( this is the club that is allegedly on a private road) the license was granted on the condition that the night club provided customers with a taxi service for punters to get home. The night club teamed up with a private hire company, who now accepts payment from other private hire company’s / drivers to be allowed to pick up from the said night club.

After this happened, 2 other clubs offered the same "service" but now on undisputed public highway, but not as part of license restrictions.

Gloucester City Council seems to promote this and think all is fine and legal, I don’t agree and would appreciate your views.

We have the same problem in Kingston, which although in Surrey still comes under PCO, London Licensing, they have set up a system which is policed by marshalls, and is definatly not tout proof.

However, it is very difficult to say this type of operation is touting in itself when it has the backing and endorsement of the Police and the local authority.

At the end of the day, as has been said on other threads here, private hire is a prebooked service and as long as the operator sending the driver to the club has a record of the booking then it is totally legal.

Regards Eric

Ok yes, the police and local council seem to think this is a great idea in Gloucester, but as you said above, the operator sending the driver to the club has a record of the booking then its totaly legal - well in Gloucester they have sent the driver before the "booking" has been taken, they send lots of drivers before they have taken the bookings!

Are the bookings genuine bookings ? A person standing on the door of a night club asking people who are leaving the club if they need a "taxi"- well that cant be a prebooking, that is simply touting for business at the time of the journey, not an advanced booking! - remember I said these people are paid for by the PH firms.

Also the PH driver is not aware of the prebooking, he just lets people in the car if they show him a raffle ticket, he has no idea of the customers name, where they are going or what time the car was booked for - not until the customer tells the driver this info! - How is that a prebooked journey?

Glos wrote:



Ok I see were you are coming from but see this senerio, A driver is local to the airport for example, and is told to go there and park up, on the basis he/she will be given the booking details once there. Same thing the operator knows there will be a landing for the driver but what he does not know is which one.



certainly does if the operator and the drivers have the backing of the council and the police, in London they only give this to the large operators, who in their opinion can keep the correct and accurate records required, which will generally mean the operator has a very sufficicated data booking system.

At the end of the day alll they are interested in is getting the punters off the streets as quickly and as saftley as possible, for both the passengers aswell as the drivers and this system if set up correctly does work.



This is 52 and I am POB with mr dick head going to SW16, then this is 52 clear with mr dick head at 52 station road SW17 charged him extra as he went to a different post code.

All providing there is a record of the pick up and destination at the begining of the journey that si fine and after all passengers do not always give the full destination before the journey and if they do they can change their minds and all this is taken into account.

What can not be accounted for is the situation we saw recently in Kingston when the PHO who was appointed the "contract" took on a Marshall who was taking back handers from other PHO & touts to direct the punters into their cars instead of the appointed operators ones, however these were recorded on CCTV so they were caught bang to rights.

Regards Eric

There's plenty of case law on TDO about Private hire illegally plying for hire, its not that hard to find.

Regards

JD