Drivers in Hong Kong appealed in opposition to their convictions on Monday, arguing that they ought to now not to have fallen victim to a traffic law that had remained up for more than 3 a long time ago and had failed to keep pace with technological improvements.
Their convictions had also put other expert drivers in criminal danger; their lawyers advised Hong Kong’s High Court within the first appeal to pit the ride-hailing company in opposition to the town’s government.
The attraction stemmed from the conviction final July of 28 drivers, aged 22 to 60, who were found guilty of driving passengers without a hire vehicle allows.
The drivers were fined between HK$3,800 (US$487) and HK$4,500.
The experience-hailing provider has struggled to comply with neighborhood legal guidelines since it arrived in the town in 2014. It has not received a central authority-issued allowance for the supply of shipping services.
In all, 25 drivers filed an appeal against their conviction, but one died. All had appointed barrister Derek Chan Ching-lung SC to argue their case.
Chan instructed the court docket the arrangement utilized by Uber – in which passengers make an appointment through a cell app before they’re picked up by an assigned driver – ought no longer to be blanketed by a regulation that was last updated in 1984.
“The form of [arrangement] could not be foreseen at the time of the enactment,” Chan said.
The provision in query falls below the Road Traffic Ordinance, which states that no character shall drive a car “for the carriage of passengers for hire or reward” until the car has been certified as a bus, minibus, or taxi.
Chan stated Uber drivers, in no way without delay, took any reward from the passenger. Rather, they had been paid by way of the United States-based company according to an agreement they signed with Uber in a desirable form.
The barrister asked the court to exclude Uber’s arrangement from the confines of the regulation, saying the decrease court had made the scope too extensive while the drivers were convicted. He stated the drivers had been merely pleasing their contractual obligations.
He likened the scenario to a professional driving force hired by a man or woman on a month-to-month basis. If the driver changed into advising his organization to drive a pal around, he also could fall foul of the regulation because he is receiving his monthly salary.
But countering Chan’s claims, prosecutors stated the case had nothing to do with generation. Instead, they said the fee association may want to exist – and should be regulated – in real existence, however best that Uber had made it take place through an app.
They also said Uber’s operations had the character of a business association, in contrast to Chan’s personal motive force, for example.
Mr. Justice Alex Lee Wen-tang started the day by telling legal professionals for both sides that he had recently noticed his daughter had into a one-time purchaser of Uber user. He said the fee for that journey was tied to his credit card, so he had informed her about the charge for using the provider. Neither party raised any issues of bias.
The enchantment continues on Tuesday.
Aside from the case closing July, 5 others had been convicted of the identical offense the previous year after some other decrease court discovered there had been no significant difference between Uber drivers and personal taxi services recognized domestically as Pak Pai Road Traffic Ordinance sought to regulate.
In March this year, the ride-hailing firm released Uber Flash, an initiative to companion with nearby taxi drivers in an apparent bid to fall in line with the law. But it got off to a rough beginning whilst the small taxi company Uber had partnered up at the final minute because the owner said he had received threats towards his circle of relatives and faced a potential boycott by way of coverage agencies.
