Judge dismisses city’s application for injunction against Uber services

The city of Toronto’s application for an injunction against UberX, UberBLACK and UberTAXI in Toronto has been dismissed by an Ontario Superior Court judge.

In his ruling, Judge Sean Dunphy said the city failed to demonstrate that Uber breached municipal bylaws.

The city argued that Uber was jeopardizing public safety by operating a taxicab brokerage and limousine service company illegally, and sought to have the ride-sharing service shut down unless it obtained a valid municipal licence.

Uber said it was merely connecting passengers and is a communications, not cab or limousine, company.

After a lengthy ruling that delved into semantics, the judge found that “Uber is not carrying on a business in Toronto that is required to be licenced as a limousine service company or taxicab broker…”

“The application is dismissed…”

In a statement, Ian Black, General Manager for Uber Canada, said the ruling confirmed that “ridesharing is a new business model, distinct from traditional taxi services.”

“Our hope is that this decision helps further pave the way for ridesharing regulations and we look forward to continuing our work with Mayor Tory and Toronto City Council.”

“Today’s outcome is a great win for the 5,000 drivers who need this flexible earning opportunity to make a living, and the 300,000 riders who rely on them to move around our great city. We are grateful for all the support we’ve received from Torontonians and will continue to work in their best interests.”

Earlier this week, representatives of the taxi industry took their case to city hall, urging the city to crack down on the ride sharing service and threatening to disrupt the Pan Am Games unless the playing field was leveled.

Several cabbies told CityNews they were willing to clog temporary Pan Am HOV lanes to get their message across.

Sajid Mughal, president of the iTaxiworkers Association, said he doesn’t want to see the games affected, but blames Mayor John Tory and police chief Mark Saunders if it happens.

“It’s not us that want to shut down the city,” he stressed. “It’s the mayor who’s pushing. It’s the police chief who is pushing this cab industry to take any job action.”

“Get ready for anything,” he warned. “Anything is possible.”

The City of Toronto said they received the courts decision late Friday evening and that City staff are in the process of reviewing the judgement.

“We intend to have representatives of the taxi industry, drivers and Uber in at the earliest opportunity to move toward mutually agreeable solutions for the city’s ground transportation network, which has been our intent all along,” Mayor John Tory’s office told 680 NEWS.

 

Uber Injunction application ruling

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