In 2005, Brentwood Borough Council v Gladen defined a Hackney wagon as a vehicle that could be stopped, rented or found at a stall or outside an office where anyone could go. For several decades, taxi and private car rental drivers have been subject to a two-tier system when it comes to their operation. Taxi or Hackney Carriage drivers are those who offer “rank or hail services”. When these licensed drivers pick up passengers at a level or are stopped on the road, it is legally referred to as a “rental vehicle.” It is a criminal offense for anyone who does not have a Hackney Carriage license to do so. If a private rental driver transports a passenger without prior reservation, it will likely result in legal action and you will lose access to the Uber app. Thus, you can avoid situations where you might rent. This legal challenge was raised by certain peculiarities of the operation of the FREE NOW platform. Namely, the fact that passengers can make “instant bookings” with private rental drivers. This raises the question of what constitutes instant hail versus pre-booking.

A recent case, Reading Borough Council v. Mudasser Ali, was treated as a test case. The question was whether the Uber model of using an app should lead to the conclusion that there was a rental. Under current regulations, private rental vehicles (PHVs) are only allowed to pick up passengers if they have been booked in advance, not from a row or in response to applause. These regulations provide passengers with important safety protection from unregulated drivers. However, smartphone apps like Uber circumvent the law of the taxi and mini-taxi industry. Transport for London believes that the distinction between the two services should be maintained. However, TfL does not fulfil its licensing and enforcement functions. In particular, TfL enables PHVs to operate in the direct rental market. This situation can only be resolved by clarifying existing case law and updating the rental concept to explicitly extend its coverage to virtual calls on mobile app platforms such as Uber – we therefore call for a legal definition of Plying for Hire. In its latest taxi action plan, TfL said it agreed with London`s new mayor and reiterated its support for a legal definition of hire work. However, TfL prefers to shirk its responsibilities and leave it to the central government to do the heavy lifting necessary to achieve this.

In fact, TfL has the power to introduce a bill on a bill for backbenchers, as it has done many times before. We need to keep up the pressure on TfL to do more to introduce a legal definition of rental work. Please contact your MP and urge them to sign Motion 587 www.parliament.uk/edm/2016-17/587 With Uber`s growing popularity, there have been issues with what exactly “Hire” means. Although this report was published in 2014, little or nothing appears to have been done to address the recommendations of the Legal Commission. Given that this seems to be a recurring problem, some legal guidance for obtaining clarification could go a long way toward avoiding so many court challenges. Only licensed Hackney Carriage drivers are allowed to hire or stand. Plague or renting position means bringing a passenger to their destination for money without prior reservation. One of the big problems with the definition of Plying for Hire is that it only describes what taxis are legally allowed to do. While this is obviously necessary, it doesn`t help clarify what a private rental driver could do that could constitute a rental rental. Moreover, it is not a legal definition, but a necessary formulation that has been used in various forms since the 19th century.

This means that, although the leasing of contracts is covered by a fairly abundant body of case-law, this material is often contradictory and contradictory. This decision was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court, which found that Mr. Ali was not looking for a job. The decision of the Flaux Court of Justice was mainly based on the following statement: The system allows two types of licences; The first is authorized hackney cars or taxis that can be hailed on the street, the second is private rental vehicles that must be booked through a licensed operator. Uber, as a licensed private car rental operator, provides an app, a customer downloads the app, and communicates with Uber`s servers to request a vehicle and driver. When opening the app, the customer can see the availability of vehicles in their area, enter a destination, get a rate estimate, and request a reservation. Under current law, it is illegal for a private rental driver to apply for a rental. Private rental drivers can only make trips that have been booked in advance through an approved private tenant. While this may seem like a simple distinction, in practice it`s a bit more complicated.

“We propose to replace the concept of rented work with a new crime system based on the main prohibition of transporting rented passengers without a license, as well as a new offence that makes it illegal for anyone other than a local taxi driver to accept a trip that starts “one way out”. The other growing concern in the industry is that giants like Uber are able to exploit the ambiguity of this area of law.