Further to my first blog about blaggers all licensee's have received a letter from the Public Carriage Office announcing a crackdown on "taxi touting" (Incidentally I am not claiming this is as a result of my blog, I wish !!)
The most significant sentence in the letter reads "any licensed driver who is convicted of touting on or after 1 August 2008, will have his or her PHV or taxi driver's licence revoked"
Whilst I welcome this initiative, there is also mention of an increase in Met Police enforcement officers, I have to say this is missing the point. Yes there is an issue with licensed minicab drivers picking up of the street with no formal booking. The real problem however is unlicensed vehicles operating entirely outside the law with no insurance, no criminal record check and no chance of being traced when something goes wrong. I cannot condone the actions of the licensed minicab driver touting illegally but at least we can hope they are insured if nothing else. The letter talks of more high profile multi-agency operations and that to me is the way forward. With a concentrated purge of town centres on a regular basis making it impossible for the blaggers to operate we will drive them away. Currently they operate in a comfort zone reasonably confident they will not be stopped.
Interline's minicab drivers report back when they see customers being blagged in Harrow and they report back a lot. I have to stand outside our offices on a Friday and Saturday to scare away blaggers who just pull up right outside. ( Yes I am big and ugly ) Interline chauffeurs tell us they can be waiting outside the smartest hotels and restaurants with blaggers milling around trying to steal the customer from right under their nose. That is where the real effort should be made.
So , I am pleased about this iniative of course but it must go further and be sustained. As I mentioned in the first blog, if you have had a problem with blaggers please contact me chris@interlineonline.co.uk and I will forward your experiences to the PCO. Book your cars with us http://www.interlineonline.com/ or get some numbers from google and put them in your mobile. Stay SAFE
Best Wishes Chris
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