🟥 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆…𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟎 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭.

The Millennium Gloucester hotel Harrington Gardens SW7, are now giving out parking tickets to Taxi drivers who take longer than 10 minutes to drop off, or pick up passengers, although there is no signage explaining the no waiting/drop off rule. 

One driver who received a ticket by post, says he dropped off and was approached by a passenger who asked him to wait while her husband bought their cases down in the lift. 

Another Cabby says he got a ticket after a passenger, asked him to wait while she went into the hotel, to get her bag and go on to Paddington.

Apparently you are only allowed to wait 10 minutes and no longer. (Timings taken on entry and exit).

Also, there is no concession, if you are dropping off a disabled/wheelchair passenger as the board inside the hotel clearly points out. 

It’s a strict 10 minutes max!!!

Apparently, it’s not just the Millennium Gloucester, hotels at Heathrow are also now doing this. 

One driver said: “On Boxing day I got a ticket saying I was in the Raddison Red for 87 hours!!!, but I had proof of my taxi movements with APCOA the feeder park agents, and managed to get the ticket overturned. 

We’ve been informed the private parking company “Parkingeye”, are now doing this in a number of hotels across London and also on the Bath Road. 

This is a complete disgrace to think you could get a ticket for dropping off a disabled passenger in a wheelchair….should we now be dropping these clients off on the main road?

Apparently, there’s not a lot the Taxi Trades Ranks Committee can do about this because it’s on private property. But they should at least pay a visit to the hotel and ask for signage to be erected, clearly warning drivers of the 10 minute rule. 

The TfL official rank, besides the Hotel in Hartington Gardens, is still available, but who really trusts the doorman to point potential customers towards the rank that isn’t visible from the Hotel exit. 

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓:

We sent Taxi Leaks roving reporter Aziz to the Millennium Gloucester to investigate/take a video, showing how clear the new parking restrictions are. 

There are a couple of boards explaining about parking and how to pay by phone, but there are no ‘𝐍𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠’ signs telling drivers they only have 10 minutes to pick up/ drop off and vacate the area.

🟥 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬. 

Reports have been coming in that undercover, plain clothed TfL PCOs are checking on drivers taking payments on unauthorised handheld devices at main line stations.

This seems to be an extremely important issue with TfL, which gives rise to the rumour that TfL profit from rear fitted Card reader usage. 

This seems to be an extremely important issue with TfL, which gives rise to the rumour that TfL profit from rear fitted Card reader usage. But we receive this reply below from one of the companies, Cabvision (who I trust immensely)⬇️

“For all their faults, TfL have never asked for or received 1p from us. They don't even charge to approve payment systems. Receiving a commission would be a clear conflict of interest in my opinion.

“Why they are so interested in this now is a mystery, for 6 years they did nothing”. 

………………………

So far, most reports have sighted undercover operations being carried out in and around the Kings Cross drop off area. 

Don’t get caught up in this, even though you may think you have the right to use whatever system you chose. 

The conditions of fitness state that only authorised units can be used. 

So be wise and if you are dropping off at a main line station, only use the system fitted in the rear of your vehicle. 

It’s funny that no such operations have been carried out against Private Hire drivers (but then, most of their fares are paid through their operator app). It’s well known minicab drivers sometimes acquire jobs that start off being cash but then at destination the passenger asks if they take card payments. In which case, the drivers produce unauthorised payment readers. 

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓:

The plain clothed undercover operatives are also checking to see if drivers are holding mobile phones while sitting on ranks. Don’t forget, even if the engine is switched off, if your keys are in the ignition, legally you are in control of your vehicle, and libel to be charged.