Uber Canada to pay drivers’ bylaw tickets: report

It looks like Uber Canada drivers won’t have to worry about forking over the cash for breaking city bylaws, because the company will be footing the bill.

According to a report by Global News, the ride-share company sent out a letter to its drivers saying that it will “take care of” any bylaw tickets for driving on the Uber platform.

This comes just days after Toronto’s director of licensing said the city plans to enforce bylaws targeting UberX.

“We expect everyone to abide by the bylaws,” Tracey Cook said during a council meeting at city hall on Wednesday.

City council voted unanimously on Wednesday to have police and by-law officers start enforcing current rules prohibiting unlicensed taxi and limo drivers. There was no word on when this crackdown would officially begin.

On Monday, Mayor John Tory said that UberX was “operating outside of the current law and that is not sustainable” and called for council to rewrite city bylaws to create a level playing field for taxi drivers.

The mayor said the process of modernizing taxi bylaws will begin quickly and will apply to everyone including Uber. He said he hopes to have the bylaw before council by the fall.

The a ride-sharing service has drawn the ire of taxi drivers and taxi companies – including a number of protests around city hall.

Cab drivers had also planned to disrupt the Pan Am Games, but Tory said he had received assurances from the taxi industry that the planned protest wouldn’t happen, provided that existing bylaws are enforced.