Enforcement officers deployed to Soho area to deter minicabs plying-for-hire or blocking taxi ranks
Enforcement officers have been deployed to Soho to deter private hire vehicles thinking about illegally plying-for-hire or blocking taxi ranks in the capital’s hotspot, the Mayor of London has said.
The latest comments follow representatives from the taxi industry recently contacting Transport for London (TfL) ordering a stop to planned Uber ‘Pick-up Points’ which the industry argued are essentially taxi ranks.
According to the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), they threatened to begin gathering evidence to undertake private prosecutions of individual Uber drivers stopping in the new ‘pick up points’.
News of Uber’s new pick up points began to spread at the end of April when a message from the private hire operator was sent to customers detailing information around the new locations.
In the message it highlights three new pick-up points located in Soho’s busy Wardour Street, Romilly Street and Archer Street. The locations have been brought in due to several streets in the Soho area being closed during the coronavirus restriction easement process.
Caroline Pidgeon, London Assembly Member and Chair of the Transport Committee, asked the London Mayor what action TfL intended to take to tackle private hire vehicles illegally plying for hire or idling around taxi ranks in the Soho area.
Sadiq Khan responded: “Transport for London (TfL) regularly deploys officers to monitor specific locations to ensure that licensed vehicles are not illegally plying for hire or causing an obstruction to the highway. To date, TfL has not identified any issues with private hire vehicles in this area.
“TfL will continue to monitor these locations and any vehicles causing an obstruction will be moved on.
“On the issue of private hire vehicles parking in taxi ranks, TfL is clear that they must not do so. If a private hire driver does idle in a taxi rank, they could be subject to a Penalty Charge Notice and, in the case of repeat offences, licensing action.”
Last month both the LTDA and United Cabbies Group (UCG) quickly contacted the regulators claiming that what Uber call Pick-up Points, the taxi industry calls taxi ranks.
Displaying availability to the public for an immediate journey is seen to be the sole right of a taxi. Only licensed black cabs can pick-up from the street or form taxi ranks displaying their availability.