Chief Municipal Law Enforcement Officer of Ontario city London, Orest Katolyk, is clear. Those driving for Uber in the city are doing so outside the law.
“The drivers that are using this app are operating illegally,” he said.
“If you want to drive a vehicle for hire and transport passengers then you require the appropriate licences which are based on health and safety and consumer protection; the commercial insurance that’s required for our limousines, for our taxis and that insurance is put in place based on the municipal purpose of health and safety and consumer protection.”
As to the question of insurance products specifically tailored to part-time drivers that retail for considerably less than that for commercial drivers, Katolyk says “but the question has to be what is part-time and what about the drivers who are working full-time and not only working full-time, but working overtime because it’s an unlicensed, unregulated industry at this point.”
Meanwhile, many London Uber drivers continue to dice with the threat of fines and court summonses rather than give up driving for the rideshare service. Since the ride-hailing app launched in the Ontario city last year, almost two dozen Uber drivers have been charged with a total of 36 offences relating to the service.
With most drivers choosing to fight in court – one driver pled guilty and was ordered to pay a $1000 fine – Uber officials have proclaimed publically that the company would provide legal support if necessary.
These are tumultuous days for Uber’s Canadian operations, with insurance issues prompting the ride-hailing service to disable its app in Edmonton -- the first Canadian city to allow the ridesharing service to operate legally-- since the beginning of this month.
Uber was in the news for another unwelcome event just this last weekend, when a
crash in Toronto’s downtown core resulted in eight people being taken to hospital. “Had that have happened in London,” says Katolyk, “one of the questions would have been what insurance coverage is provided to the passengers in that unlicensed vehicle.”
