E-hailing services angered by City of Cape Town

Cape Town - E-hailing services are crying foul after the City said it had impounded 1893 e-hailing vehicles since January this year.

Richard Bosman, the City’s executive director for Safety and Security, said: “We continue to treat all illegal operators consistently. If we find an e-hailing operator operating without a licence the vehicle will be impounded - just as is the case with mini-bus taxis and metered taxis. The City is duty-bound to impound vehicles of public transport operators who are operating without a valid operating licence or who operate in contravention of their operating licence.”

Law firm Schoeman Law Inc has labelled the impounding of e-hailing services as “unlawful” and “severely prejudicial”.

Managing Director Nicolene Schoeman-Louw said: “E-hailing operators are not regarded as metered taxi operators or public transport operators in terms of The National Land Transport Act 5 of 2009 (the “Act”).

“The Act is silent on e-hailing. As far as we are aware, no restrictions on the number of licences or related permits any one operator may hold presently exists in law.”

Schoeman-Louw said in her view no legal basis authorising the impounding of e-hailing operator vehicles exist.

“Nor do any licensing restrictions exist that could form any such legal basis. Accordingly, any continued impounding is unlawful and severely prejudicial to the affected operators. We have written to the City asking that they immediately communicate a cease and desist,” she said.

The City’s Mayco Member for Transport, Felicity Purchase, said metered-taxi operators who are using e-hailing platforms for hailing and fare collection purposes (be it Uber or Bolt,

or any other technology partner) needed public transport operating licences.

@MarvinCharles17

marvin.charles@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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