An Uber driver has been sentenced by a court after he “simply refused” to accept a passenger with a guide dog.
Yasar Rehman Butt had been called to pick up a passenger at Smithy Carr Lane in Brighouse on 13 February.
But when he realised that his female passenger was visually impaired and uses a guide dog, he refused to transport them.
The passenger reported the incident, and Butt, 48, of Brantwood Oval, was later charged with “being a private hire vehicle operator who failed to accept a booking by a disabled person accompanied by an assistance dog.”
On Thursday Butt appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court, where he admitted the charge and was handed a fine.
He told the court he had been “confused” about the company’s policy when it came to guide dogs.
The prosecution case had been brought by Bradford Council.
Waseem Raja, prosecuting for the Council, showed the court a video taken by the complainant after it had become clear that Butt was not going to let her and her guide dog in the vehicle.
The video shows the woman arguing that it is illegal for taxi and private hire drivers to refuse to transport a guide dog.
Mr Raja said: “You can see there was an argument, and that he is refusing to take the guide dog.
“The complainant has called for a taxi, and when it arrived Butt was the driver.
“He has simply refused transport her. Butt was told numerous times he legally can’t refuse a person with a guide dog, and he just carries on refusing then drives away.
“He now accepts what he did was wrong. He says he is new as a taxi driver and didn’t know what the requirements were.
“He now takes it into account and knows what is required of him. He accepts he should have agreed to take the guide dog.”
He said the case had cost the Council £1,360 to prosecute.
Butt represented himself in court, saying he had been “confused” by the policy at the time of the offence.
Chair of the bench F Sunter said: “It was clearly a guide dog. Did you not realise you had to take the dog?”
Butt replied: “I was confused.”
Magistrates fined Butt £200, and he was ordered to pay the Council’s costs for bringing the case to court – which amounted to £1,360.
He will also have to pay an £80 surcharge – in today £1,640.
After the case an Uber spokesperson said: “It is totally unacceptable, and illegal, for drivers to refuse to take a rider due to an assistance dog and we investigate every report. We remind drivers of this obligation before they start using the Uber app and send regular reminders.
“Uber can and does permanently remove drivers’ ability to use the app when a driver has violated their legal obligations. We encourage any rider to report incidents to us so we can take all appropriate action. We deeply apologise for the experiences described. ”
