According to a report by Burnaby Now, Burnaby RCMP traffic enforcement officers have issued nearly $28,000 worth of tickets to 17 illegal ride-hailing drivers. The fines range from distracted driving to faulty commercial vehicles to illegal ride-hailing services.

Despite ride-hailing being legal in Burnaby and the rest of Metro Vancouver, many drivers around the region are doing this illegally without a proper license, either on their own or through underground ride-hailing companies.

The report notes that the officers nailed a group of these drivers earlier this week through a sting operation in partnership with the Passenger Transportation Board.

In all, 7 drivers were nailed and 22 tickets totalling more than $13,000 were issued. This follows a February sting in which 10 drivers were caught and 30 tickets totalling more than $15,000 were handed out. Drivers also had their vehicles towed away and impounded.

In total, the officers inspected 238 vehicles over three days and pulled 131 from the road for a total of 374 violations and 216 defects.