City Councillor Proposes Banning Illegal Uber Drivers if London Enacts New Bylaw

iNews880.com
June 22, 2016

A city councillor looking to hit the brakes on Uber’s London operations has said he wants to see illegal drivers banned if the city puts a new by-law in place.

Councillor Mo Salih put forward a motion during Tuesday’s meeting of the Community and Protective Services Committee calling for Uber drivers who have been caught violating the current taxi bylaw to be denied a licence if and when new regulations come into effect.

As of March of this year, nearly two dozen Uber drivers had been ticketed for a total of 36 offences.

Under Salih’s proposal, when drivers apply for their licences under a potential new system, they’d be screened. If a note pops up that they’ve been ticketed for operating illegally, officials could deny them a permit to operate with Uber.

The motion passed and will now be debated at Thursday’s meeting of full Council.

Salih’s second motion also received support. He moved for taxi drivers to no longer have to pass an English proficiency test in order to work in the city.

Salih has become frustrated with Uber’s choice to ignore the city’s rules as well as the slow pace of changes to the taxi industry.

A motion from staff to schedule a public participation meeting on how to regulate Uber will also be dealt with on Thursday.