An Uber-linked Glasgow private hire driver received a six-week suspension after picking up passengers in the city centre without a booking.
The licensing committee heard Alaa-Aldi Abdul Aleem lifted two young people in Union Street and dropped them at the Leonardo Hotel on Jamaica Street on 19 April. A complainant’s video was viewed in private. His representative said he had a clean record, went to Union Street to eat, made a “genuine mistake,” and claimed a free lift when passengers said they had no money. Chair Sean Ferguson challenged the free-lift and wet-weather accounts. Private hire cannot ply for hire — only hackneys may take street hails. Councillors suspended the PH driver’s licence for six weeks.