Issue - meetings

To determine a private hire/hackney carriage vehicle licence.

The Chair moved Item 5 forward in the proceedings.

Mr Hussain, a director of Happicabs sent the Council an email detailing an incident where the driver transported a passenger on the late hours of 23 September 2019 in Chelmsford. This journey was not pre-booked through a private hire operator and at the time the driver was driving a private hire vehicle.

The female passenger entered the driver’s vehicle without an invite. She requested that the driver take her home and explained that she did not have a mobile telephone and had very little money to get home. The passenger is a regular customer of Happicabs for over 7 years and was known by the company as someone suffering from various ailments and issues.  According to Mr Hussain she has no family and has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. She often drinks and puts herself in vulnerable situations.

The driver then began to drive and called the office to get the job booked to get the passenger home safely. The Office was unable to create a job for the journey. Mr Hussain then became aware of the situation and instructed the driver to drop her off where he picked her up. He did this and returned to the Office for a meeting with Mr Hussain where he was then suspended by the company with immediate effect.

The driver said he had no intention of taking the passenger’s money as he was only trying to help someone in need.

The driver tabled proof that he had called the office to try and get the journey booked.

The driver’s representative said his client had been put in a very difficult situation and had tried do the right thing. He said Happicabs had taken appropriate action by suspending the driver until they were 100% sure that the story was true. The actions of the driver demonstrated he was a fit and proper person to hold a private hire licence.

At 10.25, the Committee retired to make its decision.

At 10.35, the Committee returned. The decision was read to those present.

RESOLVED to take no further action on the matter of the driver’s driving licence.

DECISION NOTICE –

The application before the Panel today is for the suspension or revocation  of the driver’s  joint private hire/hackney carriage licence number PH/HC2343  under S61  (1) (b) Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.- any other reasonable cause. The licence is due to expire on 30^th September next year and the driver was first licensed by this Council on 16^th October 2017.  He was summarily suspended from his employment with Happicabs following the incident we have to consider today, though we understand that since then he has been reinstated in his role.

We have had the benefit of a detailed report from the Enforcement Officer and a notification email, plus a note of his subsequent telephone conversation with the driver, are before us. We have also received some supplemental information from Happicabs and we have considered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2