Guelph Uber driver charged with rare traffic offence

A 50-year-old Uberdriver potentially faces hundreds of dollars in fines after he was charged by Guelph Police under a rarely used portion of the province's Highway Traffic Act.

The driver was pulled over by an officer on Macdonnell Street in the city's downtown at about 11 p.m. on Saturday night according to police.

• Waterloo Region Uber drivers could face fines of up to $250

Guelph Police spokesman Const. Mike Gatto says the man wascharged withpicking up passengersfor compensation without authority, a rarely used section of provincial law that targets drivers who pick up fares without a propertaxi license.

"[Uber] has no legal jurisdiction through the laws as they exist here to do that," Gatto said Monday."We don't lay this charge very often."

Not the first time

While the charge is rare, according to Gatto, it isn't the first time officers in Guelph have used it to put the brakes on people starting a taxi business without the getting the proper city licenses.

"This is no different than what we've done in the past because we've had other drivers over the yearsthat had obviouslynothing to do with Uberthat just decided to go downtown and start picking up fares," he said. "So this is something that is not necessarily new to the city."

Gatto also notes the 50-year-old who got the ticket on the weekend isn't the first Uber driver to be charged by GuelphPolice.

Charge is hard to prove in court

"We did itthe day after Ubercame into the city," he said. "That one ended up being an Uber driver as well, but when we originally put it out we didn't know if he was."

Gatto said that the reason the charge is rarely laid officers is because getting the proof to make the charge stick in court can be labour intensive.

"It can be somewhat difficult to get the evidence," he said. "You really have to do an investigation and most of the time when we're downtown the officers have so much other things going on, the officers don't really have the time to look for that."

Authorities have struggled with how to deal with Uber since it arrived in Canada mostly because it defies the conventions for which existing regulations were written.

By havingcustomers connect directly through asmartphoneappwith drivers,whouse their own cars, ridesharing services such as Uberneither match theexistingmodel of taxi companynor the regulations that govern them.

While some cities have cracked down on ridesharing services, such as Uber, Guelph has not, according to Gatto.Hesays police are keeping a "business as usual" approach and will charge drivers only when they deem it appropriate.

"It's an offense that you might see more often now only because there are more people doing it," he said.