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Taxi firm gears up for licence battle

The Island's second-largest taxi dispatch firm is gearing up for a legal battle to keep its licence to operate.

Radio Cabs, which has around 200 vehicles, was served with a letter on April 13 stating that its permission to operate was suspended by the Director of Transport for failing to use the controversial GPS system.

It became law last year that the high-tech satellite navigation systems must be fitted in all cabs. They are designed to track cars in order to send the nearest available vehicle to each job, and regular spot-checks have been carried out since the policy change.

However, some drivers have branded the systems an expensive and unnecessary move.

Radio Cabs is fighting the suspension of its licence over the GPS issue, and has engaged lawyer Delroy Duncan. In a letter to the Public Service Vehicle Licensing Board on Monday, Mr. Duncan said there was no legal obligation on Radio Cabs to use only a "mobile data terminal" — ie GPS — to assign jobs to drivers.

He said it was unfair and unlawful to penalise the company for not using GPS "when the operators of the said motor vehicles refuse to receive, accept or turn on the mobile data terminals in their vehicles to receive the jobs assigned to them."

And, he said, the letter suspending the licence was not valid, because it was not written in the correct form.

Mr. Duncan accused the board of "flagrant breaches" of the Motor Car Act and "the rules of natural justice" and said Radio Cabs would seek damages.

He asked for the matter to be heard by a Magistrate, although no court date has yet been fixed.

In the wake of the news, Gilbert Trott, president of the Bermuda Taxi Association, reaffirmed his organisation's position that members should follow the law.

He said: "Certainly I've stated on more than one occasion that the Bermuda Taxi Association stands by the law. Radio Cabs is a private dispatch company. And as the association representing the industry there is nothing much that I can say. If the law requires them to use the systems the way the law says then they should abide by the law. The other two cab companies are abiding by the law."

Radio Cabs owner Edward Darrell declined to comment on the situation yesterday, saying the matter was in the hands of his lawyer. However, he confirmed that his drivers were still working despite the suspension of the licence.