Credit Card Readers In Passenger Compartment. An Open Letter From Alan Fisher.

Credit card readers in the passenger compartment

I wrote the following letter 7 weeks ago and emailed it to London Mayor Khan, Deputy Mayor for Transport Val Shawcross, London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon, Minister of Transport Chris Grayling, London’s transport Commissioner Mike Brown, MP for Kensington and Chelsea Lady Victoria Borwick, TfL General Manager Helen Chapman as well as TfL’s Leon Daniels, Garrett Emerson and Peter Blake. A copy was also sent to the Dial-a-Cab Board and DaC driver David Lessman as a former Chairman of children’s charity, LTFUC. It was also published in the last issue of Call Sign...

I am addressing this email to everyone named above and would hope that my case is written clearly enough to understand. If it isn't, that is due in totality to the anger I feel towards Transport for London with regard to the appalling treatment given to Dial-a-Cab by an organisation that I have always assumed wanted all transport vehicles under its umbrella to work in a safe environment.

But apparently that doesn't apply to London's taxi fleet, justifiably said to be the world's best. And much thanks for that must go to TfL's predecessors, the Public Carriage Office. Yes, there was a certain amount of fear attached to their presence, but that was in addition to respect.

The fact that I edit Dial-a-Cab's in-house magazine, Call Sign, comes second to my pride at being a licensed London taxi driver for over 45 years. However, I’m also ashamed to be connected to an organisation like TfL who have shown beyond doubt that they care not a jot for this trade and that if any of our number were to be attacked and hurt, then that is nothing to do with them.

In other words, TfL doesn't care if we get hurt and they are attempting to prove it because if their plans go through, then some of our number will be hurt - possibly seriously.

What I'm talking about in case some on this list don't know - and I have no doubt that not everyone does - is all to do with TfL's insistence on London taxi drivers accepting credit cards.

That decision is undoubtedly correct. Like many on Dial-a-Cab, I have already been carrying out CC rides for years via our system and with street CC trips for several years ever since we have had fixed CC readers (PEDS) fitted into our taxis with the holster placed handily by our left shoulder and easily fitting through the gap in the partition for the passenger to put in the card and insert their pin.

But astonishingly, even though it was TfL that passed the DaC PED in that position some five years ago at a substantial cost to DaC, I have now been informed that TfL want the PED to be placed in the passenger compartment. That would mean that if three semi-drunk passengers at two in the morning said that the PED wasn’t working, then the driver will have to get out and check it.

I’m sure I don't need to explain what that could mean to any driver being put into that position. Robbery? Bruising? Stabbing? I'm not interested in whether it has or hasn't yet happened. It will somewhere down the line. But why? The PED is excellently placed in a safe position and all it needs is an approved sign on the passenger side of the partition that says the driver accepts credit cards. Why should we be put in danger every time someone comes up with a problem? Most are genuine and I am usually able to sort them out fairly easily, but there is no way on God's earth that I am going to get into the back of my taxi with people I may not even trust.

I often get out to help passengers with bags or women with babies and prams. But would I get into the back of a taxi with an unaccompanied female passenger and take the chance of being accused of an offence against her person? No I wouldn't in either case and I won't. If that means going to court to explain why I don’t want to put myself in danger when it is totally unnecessary to do so because our current system caters for all eventualities, then that is what I will have to do. I have already upset my wife when telling her what TfL wants us to do.

Feel free to look at my record as a taxi driver, which actually goes back several years before my May 1971 taxi beginning encasing my time with London Transport. I give you all permission. You won't find one complaint. You won’t find me down as a trouble maker; I am just a taxi driver who believes that this is the best taxi service in the world and who does his best to provide an excellent service to his passengers.

But apparently TfL are going to force me into deciding whether my safety is as important as credit card acceptance. I want to accept CCs but not if there is the possibility of putting myself in danger.

I also know of one case where a passenger that had failed to secure their seat belt was catapulted forward hitting their head onto a PED case in the rear. It was only at the driver’s insistence that he should have buckled up that a complaint didn't go any further. But that isn't my complaint; I am purely pointing it out as a secondary reason. Perhaps there have been no official reports of it happening, more because our drivers are excellent and unlike the competition, do not need to look at satnavs rather than the road ahead.

But that is a million miles from unnecessarily insisting that drivers may have to go into the passenger compartment if the passenger says there is a problem with the PED. As I have said, it won't be me and if I am forced to do as TfL insist, then the world will know how I feel via our justice system and the newspapers - one of which reported on the 154 alleged sex attacks on their passengers by cab drivers and of whom I would stake my house on that none were taxi drivers. However, I would expect the number of taxi drivers being attacked to go up after being lured into the rear of the cab under the pretence of the CC PED not working.

I find it so difficult to understand that our so-called licensing authority is happy to put us in danger, because an excuse that it hasn't happened yet is just not good enough. It will happen.

I used to write to TfL whenever one of my Call Sign readers asked me a question that I believed they could answer, but I cannot remember the last time anyone from that organisation bothered responding to me. However, my views are now known and hopefully will at least be read and the feelings of myself and many other drivers will be looked at sympathetically, because I just cannot believe that any organisation would do what TfL are proposing.

I have sent this lengthy email to several people including Deputy Chair at Transport Val Shawcross, TfL, Caroline Pidgeon at the Transport Committee, the Mayor's office, two former Chairman of the London Taxi Drivers Fund for Underprivileged Children, Victoria Borwick as a hopefully interested MP and former member of the Transport Committee and someone who knows much about how this trade operates. I have also forwarded it to members of the DaC Board of Management who in all fairness should know my views as Editor.

Alan Fisher

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Uber Driver Who Assaulted Taxi Driver, One Year suspended sentence, Fined £880, Ordered To Do 150 Unpaid Hours....Report from Marc Turner.

Yesterday (August 25th) at Highbury Magistrates Court, Uber driver Mohammed Dalim was found guilty by District Judge Nicholas Rimmer of One count of assault by beating.

Dalim was fined £680 Court costs and £200 compensation to Jon Cox, the Taxi driver Dalim punched in the back of the head at Kings Cross on 23rd March, this year. Dalim was given a one year suspended sentence and also ordered to serve 150 unpaid hours of work by 27 August 2017.

The hearing lasted approx two hours. 

Judge Rimmer deliberated for approx thirty minutes.

It was an intriguing case. At one point the Judge asked the temperature be lowered when Jon Cox locked horns with defending lawyer Joseph Lawrence. 

Star of the  proceedings was witness for the prosecution cabbie Lee Barron. Lee not only witnessed the accident, but intervened by braking up the fracas. 

Lee's performance was spellbinding. 

He made the defence lawyer look like an amatuer. Even the Judge looked impressed, and in his summing up spoke of how credible the prosecution witness was. 

Another nail in Dalim's coffin was a statement read out by the arresting officer PC Francis, who described the altercation as "one taxi driver punched another" (which just goes to show, even the police can't distinguish between Taxi & PH).

 Interestingly in Dalim's statement to Police on being read his car registration, he replied "I 'think' that's correct".

 Finally Mohammed Dalim, took to the stand. Previously a bus driver of twelve years, he explained he'd been with Uber for just over a year. But, in giving his side of events, he seemed to suffer persistent 'amnesia'. 

Prosecuting lawyer Lorna Ewen made short shrift of him.

Judge Rimmer described his testimony as 'vague'. 

Dalim's evidence appeared to revolve around a conspiracy theory, explaining "Everybody knows there's a war between Black Cabs & Uber, and I am a victim of this".

His delusion went as far as believing that Mr Barron and Mr Cox had coluded to set him up. 

No doubt he thought the police were in on it as well!! 

John Cox, Marc Turner and Sean Paul Day, outside the court

On a lighter note, the Clerk of the Court approached the press section of the gallery and exclaimed "I've never seen so many members of the press, why so much interest in my court"?...There was Steve (LTDA), Gregg (The Sun), Marc Turner (Call Sign) and the irrepressible Sean Paul Day from London Taxi Radio. 

Marc Turner replied "This case has great significance and interest in the Taxi and Private Hire trades. 

The lady clerk questioned "Why"?.. Marc explained in hushed tones "Because the defendant's an 'Uber' driver". She came back with "Who's Uber"?.....To which Marc Turner declared his undying 'love' for her!!!! To laughs all round.

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Credit Card Mandate...And The Curious Case Of The MetroCab....Letter To Taxi Leaks.

I have to agree with Alan Fleming comment on the previous post, relating to tfl and the safety of cab drivers, but then did they ever have a clue on that matter alone? 

No of course not, just turn up at the office, draw their huge over costed salaries and whilst they sip their lattes cab drivers have stress coming though their veins at heart busting amounts...cycle lanes balls ups...Uber balls ups... no choice of cabs to replace the ones they currently drive (due to emissions, over complication on long term business prediction evaporations) and now this credit card school boy sticky tape ideology dream... completely pathetic.

Leon Daniels should be fired immediately and his pension should be given to the homeless. In my humble opinion, he  would never himself sign the type of deal he expects us to work by.

Example:
If you signed a contract with any supplier of goods, eg....Virgin Media (I know them well), you will be given a statement of contract such as, Length of term, cost of service (per month in this case) and very importantly, penalties for breaches by either side.... which basically means if you do not fulfill your side of the contract you will legally be in breach of contract with financial penalties forthcoming, and likewise if the supplier changes inherent details such as costs to supply, you will have automatic rights of cancellation without financial penalty. 

That is the basis of a two party contract.

TFL however fits into an intimidatory role within a two party contract with the term "Mandatory" which rewrites the initial contract in the suppliers favour simply because you must have this to operate your business of employment.

Take the current situation with the MetroCab. 

If you sign a three year contract (which seems to be the 'approved' non choice by Taxi world) and if after 6 months into your three year contract they decide to charge a monthly fee of £10, wouldn't that material change invalidate any signed contract signed 6 months earlier (like any UK supplier?). 

The simple answer is no... as currently, there is no other package out there approved by TFL.

If you did decide that they were taking the pee and bailed out of your contract, as you would have every right to do, TFL will be waiting to invalidate your licence for non compliance and as I've said this before, a complete act of contractual duress... as you have no other choices available as a Metrocab owner.

Where are all these so called legal representatives, many Licensed Cab drivers have paid for years to represent them?

Why is the whole credit card mandate so irreversibly flawed with such juvenile ineptitude?

Can this be the same legal set up due to be challenged by Uber later in court? ...my god help us!

Someone out there, Legal, union, TFL, anyone. 

How on earth has this issue spiralled out of all proportions to the stage we are now at when hundreds or maybe thousands of cabs will never be fitted with card processing equipment approved by an authority (TFL) unless they understand that in a two way contract, ...a supplier has to attract a willing customer, and a taxi user must have a willing participant of trade i.e. a card processing facility. Whatever pressures TFL apply, a whole litany of broken card machine excuses will hit our customers and damage the facility of choice and damage our user accessibility. This will clearly not do our trade any good.

So remove the red tape bureaucracy and help taxi drivers to be happy to take card payments without TfL's unwelcome meddling.

My advice is, don't sign any contract...unless you can leave without penalty if the supplier changes any of the financial detailing to suit themselves.

Be Lucky

greenbadgejohn (on twitter)
Always on the side of the cab driver

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Tomorrow, Friend Of The London Taxi Trade, Frances Wyhowska Skydives To Raise Funds For Normandy Trip

Tomorrow, friend of the London Taxi Trade, Frances Wyhowska will be doing a skydive of 12000 feet, with the Red Devils, in aid of the The London Taxi Benevolent Association for War Disabled, to raise funds for next year's trip to Normandy 

If you would like to sponsor Frances, this is the link. 

http://ift.tt/2aqhXBa

Please use the  hastag #Frances

Any help, no mater how small, will be gratefully received

Another committee member, Graham Pike and two veterans are also jumping

Two WWII veterans, Ted Pieri (90) and Fred Glover (92) are undertaking a tandem skydive with the Red Devils on Thursday 25 August 2016 to raise funds for next year’s Taxi Charity D-Day trip to Normandy. 

Ted and Fred will be joined by Taxi Charity committee members Frances Wyhowska and Graham Pike.

Ted, who lives in Erith, Kent, joined the 1st Airborne division in 1943. He did his first parachute jump in 70 years in 2015, and enjoyed the experience so much that he’s willing to jump again to raise money for the charity.

Fred Glover was a member of 6th Airborne ‘A Company’ who were tasked with landing within the infamous Merville Gun Battery in 1944. This will be Fred’s first parachute jump since his time in Normandy.

Please watch this short video where London Taxi Driver Allan "Ossie" Osbourne,  talks about why he loves taking the veterans on these trips..

   

> Please Click On This Link To Donate <

The London Taxi Benevolent Association for War Disabled

>See more on YouTube<

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PayPal's Neat Solution To The Credit Card Mandate : Unit Fitted In TX4... By Jim Thomas.

Last night at the KXTC Camley Street, Mike Smith showed me his newly fitted rear compartment PayPal cradle. Apparently once you have the contactless unit, the total cost of cradle, printer and all the fittings is around £219 plus VAT. 

The unit was fitted at MAM electrical, unit 9 Mitre Way W8 (opposite ComCab's office), where he was charged £84 inclusive of VAT. Mike said he was really impressed at the standard of workmanship and how helpful this company was. 

Best attribute of this fitment is that you can take the unit out at night to discourage theft. But also you can use the unit  should you wish, with any of the other CC clearance companies who use this model. As you don't have to sign a contract you can just use the system that suits you the best. PayPal, iZettle and CabApp currently have the lowest transaction charges around 2.75%.

Another bonus with this system is the rear view is not impaired in any way, unlike the larger CC machines that block the view between the rear headrests. 

Mike has accounts and units with both PayPal and iZettle, so if there's a problem with one, he can just replace it with the other. Unfortunately this setup has not been approved in either MetroCab or Vito Taxis. Another woeful mess from TfLTPH. 

Under 5 weeks to go to the deadline and they the whole CC situation is in still in chaos. 

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Who Said Demos Don't Work? : St Pancras, Finally Gets Double Yellow Lines, Double Kerb Chevrons.

Last night, under cover of darkness, Camden Council's roads and highways department painted the new double yellow lines including double chevrons on the kerbside at the St Pancras Station drop off. 

The council team turned up complete with warden, moved off all the illegally plying for hire minicabs and painted the promised double yellow lines. Amazingly, some minicabs were reluctant to move, some vehicles were parked with no driver present and so a removal truck was called for. 

After the job was successfully carried out, many minicabs were returning, so the truck stayed behind. Car drivers were informed if they didn't move off, they would be lifted and taken away by Camden Council. 

This new trial has come after months of serious negotiation on behalf of the trade, by the Mayfair Mob's ranks and highways team. St Pancras drop off was bought to the notice of the council after a 5 day demo was called by Dads Defending Daughters and the Mayfair Mob, heavily supported by the RMT and the drivers from all orgs who turned up en masse for the five days to support the action.

  

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Police and TfL, Still Ignoring Assaults On Female By PHV Drivers In Harlington.

Dear Taxi Leaks 

Thank you for your comments supporting residents, and women in particular, who have to put up with this behaviour on a daily basis. 

I'm the woman who made the film and I'm pleased that so many people shared the video. After a few days, we hit 4,000 views. 

I received a call from the local police who arranged for me to visit this no-go area with a female PC to presumably show it was safe. 

In fact she was treated with total disrespect and the drivers laughed at her and she had to admit, as other officers have done, that it isn't safe for a woman to visit alone. 

After intimidation by the drivers and complaints that they were on YouTube, the PC advised them that they could complain and have the film removed because it identified them (a bit tricky to assault a woman filming you and not reveal your identity). 

  Aggressive Uber driver from the original footage.

As a result, Youtube took the film down but by then it had received around 7000 views and I have lots of requests to find a way to edit and repost. 

As far as I'm aware the police have taken no action against the men - although the local Inspector assured me he would do something before he moves on, having been promoted! 

I'm not holding my breath. Our GLA members (Whittle and Kurten) have raised our PHV issues with the London Mayor and lots of emails (& Twitter etc) have been copied to TfL. 

Hillingdon Council is currently running a consultation to give it more powers to tackle PHV abuse of our public parks (closes 23rd August). 

So thank you everyone, your support is important. While PHV drivers act like scumbags and their colleagues stand back and do nothing to clean up their act, I will keep plugging away. Thanks again. 

Editorial Comment :

Incase you missed the original article > Click Here<

Well done Christine, Taxi Leaks will assist you in anyway we can. 

If you do have the original footage, you can send it to us by email (taxileaks@mail.com) and we can add it to 7 FaceBook groups with over 18,000 members. 

It's scandalous to think that TfL haven't acted to help solve this problem as these aggressors are licensed by them.

Hope you get some satisfaction from the local police inspector, but as you say, I wouldn't hold your breath.

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