Taxi Driver Online

These last 2 nights ( wed / thurs ) there has been a silver 5 series BMW police patrol car, driving around Glasgow city centre arrogantly informing private hire drivers that they are not allowed to sit waiting for their jobs in the city. Now after speaking with glasgow city council enforcement officers doing their local rounds, they inform me that THERE IS NO SUCH LAW banning private hire drivers from plotting the city centre awaiting jobs

Now it doesnt come as a surprise to me about these police tactics. Most private hire drivers are aware, that the city council ``TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE ENFORCEMENT``should really be called `PRIVATE HIRE ENFORCEMENT` as all they ever do imo is sit out their time at the busy hackney ranks nannying the ranks to ensure the least amount of private hire drivers within that particular vicinity.

Worse still, they have seemed to talk the police into providing `PROTECTION`` for the hackney trade in glasgow. In what is still essentially a private business, why is taxpayers money being spent on this protection racket not to mention a waste of valuable police resources ???

I recall not so long ago, being booked for stopping on sauchihall street to LET PASSENGERS DISEMBARK my vehicle, the offence being double parked on a public road and stopping the flow of traffic, when infact, it was the police vehicle that was stopping the flow of trafic trying to lecture me while keeping my front seat passenger from being able to leave my car.

Is this how bad the hackney carriage trade in glasgow become, are they that desperate that even the police have now been recruited behind closed doors in a gentlemans handshake / agreement , to bully and intimidate private hire drivers who have GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL PLATES
legally allowing them to operate within all areas of glasgow.
Any advice on this most welcome.

It is also worth pointing out here, that what the police really need to get to grips with, is all the out of town Private hire taxis that seem to crop up on every street in the city centre, outside every nightclub or takeaway on every night of the week. We see these drivers everywhere illegally plying for hire, secure in the knowledge that `we cant be touched` this is who the police need to deal with. I feel that every private hire driver with glasgow plates has a legitimate right to be allowed to work whatever area of glasgow he or she chooses, especially if with the big 2 . gph. or network, as these 2 are truly city wide companies.

If they ask you to move on just ask them for their police details, tell them that your firm is going to report them for harrasment, and then move on.

I suspect this will be a five minute wonder, bought on by pressure from the cab trade. Thing is that both of us know that some drivers do things they shouldn't, and I suppose the police have to be seen to be doing something.

But the PH operators need to be backing up their drivers when they are doing nothing more than being parked waiting for a call.

But then some of the PH operators in Glasgow aren't exactly on the side of the police.

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IDFIMH

Well they are, and anyone stopping them is acting illegally.

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IDFIMH

I thought the police were moving them, not stopping them?

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Former taxi driver

Thanks for the replies fellas.

well we got some clarification on this point. Not exactly solid information but very grey.
Was told by our manager that `technically` we are NOT ALLOWED to rank in the city, just to drop off and move outwith some nearby area, what that means i will never know. however he mentioned that so long as we are moving or on our way to collect a hire, we have every right to be there. What begs the question is are we or arent we allowed to wait the 5-10 mins is normally takes for our hires to turn up ???
This is getting worse by the day .

I think a single PH parked up in a side street is fine where ever you are in the City centre. But if you are parked up in rows of PH not far from a rank, then that's not on.

It's all a matter of degree, but if you have no bad intentions then you should be ok.

But from what I can gather both large PH firms have bundles of work so you shouldn't be parked up for too long anyway.

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IDFIMH

Perhaps either the police or your sources are confusing merely sitting waiting for pre-booked jobs and plying for hire. I doubt if they can have a blanket ban on PH sitting in the city centre, but as Sussex says if a PH looks like it's plying for hire then clearly that's what the public might think, thus the police are within their rights.

For example, if a PH sits outside a nightclub without a job then clearly that could be construed as plying, but if it's up a side street where there aren't any people then that's probably OK.

There's no hard and fast rule, and it's probably as much common sense as anything, but a blanket ban from the whole city centre doesn't sound right.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

And I suspect that the reason the police are targetting this is that it's the most obvious facet of lawbreaking in the trade, so it's harldy surprising that if they target anything, then they target this.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I don't think the hackney trade in Glasgow needs any protection do you? They can look after themselves like they do in Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinbourough, do you get my drift?

Well no i dont really get your drift with all due respect. The protection i was talking about and the protection you are referring to i think are in different contexts. I meant protecting the interests of the hackney trade in an econimic sense, not some gangster/ mafia bullshit type of protection. Apologies if you misunderstood me. Cheers.

Now now sussex, where did you get that idea from LMFAO.

Hand on heart though, the gamest folk i have ever seen are the hackney drivers, they are nuts and sure do stand up for themselves. (or is that due to the screen ) lol.