Bradford Uber drivers fined and stripped of licences after refusing passengers with guide dogs
Both drivers appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court on Friday
TWO Uber drivers from Bradford have been fined and stripped of their licenses for refusing to pick up a passenger with a guide dog.
Both drivers appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court on Friday where the court was shown mobile phone footage of the each of them refusing the allow a woman and her dog in their Uber before cancelling the job and driving off.
In the first of two similar cases being prosecuted by Bradford Council on Friday morning, Mohammed Zubair pleaded guilty to refusing to carry out a booking for a disabled person accompanied by an assistance dog.
Zubair, 47, of Dickens Street, Bradford, had been called to pick up a passenger from Smithy Carr Lane in Brighouse on June 14 and transport her to hospital.
Footage filmed by the woman who booked the Uber played in court showed the woman informing the reluctant driver that he had to take the assistance dog.
He tells her he had cancelled the journey, to which the woman tells him that is against the law and he would be reported to the Council.
After the Council received the complaint, Zubair was invited to an interview to explain his actions. He was accompanied by a legal representative and gave no comment.
Waseem Raja, prosecuting the case on behalf of Bradford Council, said: “The footage shows the complainant constantly explain he can’t refuse to transport them. He kept remonstrating and kept saying she needed to book an Uber Pet. He simply drove away.”
Magistrates were told that Zubair had been a taxi driver for seven years, and had no issues in that time. He was “deeply remorseful” for what had happened.
The court heard that he had been stripped of his licence and was now jobless and on Universal Credit.
Magistrates fined Zubair £90 and ordered him to pay £500 in costs and a £36 surcharge.
The next case saw Muhammad Faisal, 34, of Horton Park Avenue plead guilty to a similar charge.
Mr Raja played the court a video from June 13 when Faisal had been called to a job, again on Smithy Carr Lane in Brighouse.
The driver is seen telling the disabled passenger that she would need to book an Uber Pet if she wanted her dog to be transported.
He was told it would be against the law for him to refuse the passenger, and he replied “You need to book an Uber Pet.”
Mr Raja said: “He left the woman standing in the road. He refused to transport her and said he would cancel the job despite being told he could not do that.”
Faisal was interviewed, and admitted he had made a mistake and he had forgotten his training regarding the transportation of disabled people.
Mr Khan, representing Faisal, said: “It is sad he finds himself in court. He is a man of previous good character and a hard working individual.”
He had only recently been given his taxi licence before the incident, magistrates were told. Mr Khan said: “He was hoping it would be a life long career, but it ended quite soon after this incident.”
He said the defendant had received training from Bradford Council, but when he got the job at Uber he was told that an Uber Pet would be needed to transport pets.
Mr Khan added: “Unfortunately for this young man he shouldn’t have left her, it was a genuine mistake.”
He suggested there might be “something going on” with the information given by Uber, as this was the second case of the day where an Uber driver had refused to transport a passenger with a guide dog.
He had lost his licence because of the incident, and was not able to apply for another one for seven years, and would soon be applying for Universal Credit.
He was fined £80 and ordered to pay £500 costs and a £32 surcharge.
Theses cases were the latest in a series of prosecutions by Bradford Council on Uber drivers who have refused transport passengers with guide dogs.
After a previous court hearing an Uber spokesman told the Telegraph & Argus:
“It is totally unacceptable, and illegal, for drivers to refuse to take a rider due to an assistance dog and we investigate every report."
"We remind drivers of this obligation before they start using the Uber app and send regular reminders. Uber can and does permanently remove drivers’ ability to use the app when a driver has violated their legal obligations.”