City to crack down on Uber drivers: Mayor

Windsorstar.com
Jan. 5, 2016
By Carolyn Thompson

City bylaw officers and police are gearing up for an Uber sting as complaints come in about the service.

Mayor Drew Dilkens calls it a “co-ordinated enforcement initiative” that will catch Uber drivers in action.

City Council is waiting on a $30,000 consultant report with recommendations of how to accommodate ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft in the city’s regulations. Dilkens said until then, those drivers are operating in contravention to the city’s public vehicles bylaw.

Uber drivers could be charged with driving a cab without a taxi licence, for a $205 fine, or with no licence, taxi cab driver, which bears a $105 fine.

“If there’s no enforcement action in a short time, we are planning an information rally to draw attention to it,” said John Toth, vice-president of Unifor Local 195, which represents Vets Cab drivers.

Andom Gebrzgie, who has driven for Vets for 20 years, questioned why the mayor and police have taken months to begin enforcement against Uber.

“We have to be regulated for the sake of public safety,” he said. “They have to get fined.”

Vets Cab has been sending out Uber Alerts to its drivers, asking them to record license plates and the car make of people they suspect are working for Uber. That information is being passed on to the city’s 311 centre.

“At first the city said there was not much they could do about them, unless they have complaints,” Toth said.

But Dilkens said that’s not how it works. City bylaw officers have to have enough evidence to lay a charge. A complaint won’t do it.

Dilkens added bylaw officers can’t lay charges alone, because they don’t have the right to ask a driver for identification. Only police can do that.

As well, Uber riders need to register with a credit card to request a ride.

“You need multiple credit cards in order to undertake enforcement because once you fine someone, that credit card gets flagged and probably can’t be used again,” Dilkens said.

Sgt. Matthew D’Asti of the Windsor Police Service said the traffic division has been working with Windsor bylaw officers to come up with a way to do the enforcement, but that they want to do it right.

“It’s difficult. It’s a complicated task,” D’Asti said. He added that information from taxi drivers of suspected Uber licence plates and car models could be helpful to police as they work to lay fines.

Uber Canada spokeswoman Susie Heath said in an email that the company does not fall under the definition of a taxi.

“Rather than taking enforcement action, we believe the right path forward is to develop common sense regulations,” she said.

Heath said the company doesn’t believe the burden of enforcement should fall on individual drivers and Uber will support them fully.

Heath didn’t address questions about why the company has chosen to operate in Windsor before those regulations have been developed in the city.