Thousands raised to fund legal challenge over Fife Council's Uber decision

More than £2,000 has already been raised to help fund a legal challenge over Fife Council’s decision to grant a taxi office licence to Uber.

Last month, members of the local authority’s Regulation and Licensing Committee approved the application for a base in Rosyth after ruling out a total of 431 representations.

This came after solicitor Kevin Clancy, who was acting for Uber, stated that none of the objections which has been published in council papers were competent.

He explained that under legislation, they needed to specify the grounds of the objection, specify the names and addresses of objections and be signed.

This resulted in committee convener, Councillor Tom Adams, moving that the objections be disregarded which resulted in the application going through unopposed.

Since then, a campaign group titled Uber Fife has been launched to “oppose, investigate and report” on Uber’s licensing, regulation and operations in Fife.

They have set up a CrowdJustice fundraiser which, as of Tuesday afternoon, has already raised £2,035.

Uber Fife’s CrowdJustice case asks whether Uber’s own application was valid and whether the objections were lawfully rejected.

They say Fife Council has confirmed Uber applied electronically, but cannot produce the statutory determination governing electronic submissions.

The campaign is raising an initial £5,000 for legal and potential costs could go up to £20,000.

William Laing, of Prompt Taxis, said: “Local operators are expected to follow Fife Council’s licensing rules in every detail.

“We are entitled to expect the same standard from a major platform seeking to operate here. This challenge is about whether the rules were applied consistently, whoever the applicant happens to be.”

Sam Green, of Magnum Taxis, said the possible action goes beyond the taxi trade.

“People took the time to object to a licensing application, but their objections were not heard,” he said.

“The legal challenge can establish whether the rules for making those objections were lawful and clear. The public should be able to take part in a licensing process without finding out at the hearing that their submissions do not count.”

Linda Holt, who is co-owner of St Andrews Taxis, added: “The committee had 431 objections on record, invited 25 objectors to speak, then heard from none of them before granting the licence.

“Now the question of electronic submissions cuts both ways – if the council cannot produce the determination governing electronic submissions, how can anyone be confident the same rules were applied to Uber’s application and to the objections?

“It looks as if, for whatever reason, Fife Council unfairly favoured Uber’s interests against those of local taxi operators, and our only recourse now is a legal challenge.”

Fife Council legal team manager Steven Paterson said they are aware of the campaign and comments made regarding the licensing process.

“Given the possibility of legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage,” he added.

“The council will respond through the relevant legal channels should a challenge be brought.”