Taxi Driver Online

Cabby’s anger at parking fine


AS a taxi driver, charging customers for fares is a daily part of Asif Iqbal’s job.

But he was left fuming when a £3 fare left him out of pocket by £57.

Mr Iqbal, a driver for Mount Taxis of Marsh, was hit with the fine after waiting to pick up a passenger in the car park of the Iceland frozen food store on Trinity Street, Huddersfield.

He waited several minutes for the customer to finish her shopping and after helping her to the car drove off and dropped her off at her home.

The local fare cost the passenger just £3, but weeks later Mr Iqbal received a parking charge notice from Sheffield-based Excel Parking Services after his taxi’s licence plate was caught on the company’s cameras.

The car park management service said the driver was liable to pay the £60 fine because he was parked without displaying a valid ticket.

But Mr Iqbal said the fine was ridiculous. He added that the company’s over-zealous approach would do other taxi drivers out of business.

He said: “I’ve been a driver for 11 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s absolutely ludicrous that a £3 fare has ended up costing me this.

“This has happened to other taxi drivers and my firm is now having to turn away business from customers who want picking up from the car park or warn them that they may have to walk down the road to get to the taxi because we can’t go into the car park.

“This is ridiculous because it defeats the whole purpose of a taxi service.”

Mr Iqbal, of Birkby, arrived early for his fare and waited for 13 minutes in the car park to pick up his fare.

He said: “I arrived a few minutes early to pick up the customer. I went to the front of the supermarket to the loading bay, which is where we normally pick up and drop off customers.

“But there was a lorry there, so I parked in a parking bay but stayed in the car.

“I helped the customer to the car with her shopping and then took her home. Three weeks later I got a notice saying that I had to pay £60.

“I explained that I had parked to pick a customer up, but the company replied that the car park was a 24-hour pay and display car park and that drivers have to pay a fine if they don’t display a ticket.”

Mr Iqbal said: “We have elderly customers and vehicles that provide for disabled people, so they would really struggle if we had to park outside the car park as would customers with lots of heavy shopping bags.

“It’s all part of our service to help our customers with this and we should be able to provide this service.”

A spokeswoman for Excel Parking Services said: “Every person who enters the Iceland car park agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of use of the car park.

“As part of the terms and conditions failure to purchase and or clearly display a valid ticket/ permit will result in a parking charge notice.

“Mr Iqbal did not purchase a ticket and was therefore issued with a notice.

“We have taken into account the points raised by Mr Iqbal in his appeal and have investigated them thoroughly.

“Whilst we appreciate that Mr Iqbal is a taxi driver and was there to collect his customer the duration that he was parked was a considerable time.

“As a result he is in breach of the contract he was bound to when he entered the car park, so the parking charge notice is still applicable.”

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Tell them they can stick the fine, its a civil case so let them take you to court and it will get thrown out as you where not parked

Unenforceable tosh!!!

For the fine to be legal the driver has to be out of the car, and the fine must be received within 14 days

It is not a fine, it is an invoice for a contract that doesn't exist. That much is clear from the cabbies reaction. He didn't make a contract because he didn't know he'd been made an offer. Totally unenforceable tosh!

I'll send you an invoice for £60 for interrupting threads. You must pay me in 14 days!

www.pepipoo.com look at anything that mentions Excel, PPCs or private parking.

Do not pay, ignore.

Speeding tickets - always request photos

Council parking tickets - always appeal

Private parking tickets - always ignore.

I was quoting the article
And your quite correct it should not under any circumstances be paid
There is also the fact that there was a bay that was used for drop off and pick up that was in use by a lorry so he had no other alternative

Which article and where??

There would be a lot of skint folk on here if that ever happens.

Best not to contact them at all. If they wanted to enforce it they would have to take him to court, prove he was driving, prove he knowingly entered into a contract and prove he didn't buy a ticket. And even if they won, they would only be entitled to the money they lost ie an hours parking charge.

http://www.ticketfighter.co.uk/home.htm

A reply from the above link

I think we're finally singing from the same hymn sheet, and your in tune at last!