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An illegal cab marshall has been successfully prosecuted by Birmingham City Council Licensing after being caught touting jobs for licensed private hire drivers.
The prosecution was confirmed by Birmingham Taxi & Private Hire PoliceBirmingham Taxi & Private Hire Police via their Twitter account @Bhamtaxicop.
The unnamed offender was given a six month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1,200 in court costs, as well as a £20 victim surcharge after approaching plain clothes officers, who then arrested him.
Birmingham Taxi & Private Hire Police said: "If you are approached and asked if you want a taxi, refuse. It's illegal!"
If you are driving a private hire vehicle, the law requires that your fare must be pre-booked. If your fare is not pre-booked and you are caught soliciting for fares, this is known as 'touting'.
Touting falls under two main categories:
Soliciting people to hire vehicles to transport them as a passenger in a public place.
Displaying the word 'taxi', 'cab' or 'hire' anywhere on a vehicle (unless a licenced hackney carriage taxi driver).
Image credit: Pixabay
