Toronto UberX Drivers Face 72 Licensing Charges as City Works on Regulation

The enforcement of UberX in Toronto became a hot topic last week. Today, the city has laid 72 charges against 36 UberX drivers in the ongoing battle over regulating the ride-sharing company.

The news comes in the same week that Uber launched its new carpooling service in Toronto. The charges facing UberX drivers are related to operating an unlicensed limousine and failure to submit a vehicle to the city’s licensing division for approval. Tracey Cook, the city’s executive director of municipal licensing and standards, said:

“These investigations are focused on all unlicensed drivers who are providing private ground transportation services, focused on all unlicensed drivers who are providing private ground transportation services.”

Susie Heath, a spokeswoman for Uber Canada, said that the company will pick up the bill for these charges.

“Isolated cases of ticketing date back to our initial launch of uberX in Toronto and should be sized up against the over 20 million rides that are now completed on an annualized basis in the city.”

The city’s argument that Uber is operating an illegal taxi company was dismissed earlier this month by a judge in the Ontario Superior Court. The court ruled that Toronto’s bylaws do not adequately cover new technological ideas such as ride-sharing.

Uber was launched in Toronto in 2012 and currently operates in 57 countries. UberX allows ordinary drivers to pick up passengers for a fare.

[via The Globe and Mail]