PTC drivers getting ticketed by police
“Uber is not updating drivers with up-to-date licenses:” RDAO
Updated at 11:15am: Neil Shorey’s title and quote were amended for accuracy.
Numerous PTC drivers, including those working on platforms Uber and Lyft, have been ticketed in recent weeks for driving with “expired” licenses, says the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario (RDAO). In most cases, the ticketed drivers maintain that their licenses were in fact renewed, but that the PTC app info does not reflect this.
Rideshare drivers and their associations have asked Toronto to take over licensing of Private Transportation Company (PTC) drivers during recent consultations. The rationale for this request is becoming clearer as PTC drivers are being ticketed by the Toronto Police Service (TPS): drivers feel they cannot trust the PTCs to manage licensing fairly and reasonably.
“Uber is not updating drivers with up-to-date licenses issued by the City,” says Earla Philips of the RDAO. “They say, ‘don’t worry that the document is expired, it was renewed and you will be OK.’
“It is not OK, as drivers getting $240 tickets from Toronto Police Services are finding out. Even mine says it is expired in the app, and I know I have renewed!” says Philips, who has been fielding complaints and trying to assist confused drivers for several weeks.
One Uber driver contacted Taxi News in May to complain that in nine years of driving for Uber, he had not experienced the administrative chaos he was dealing with in 2024. “Before now, everything was smooth and automatic. This renewal, I have gotten three different answers from the same person.”
As frustrating as it has been for Uber drivers whose app information fails to reflect their renewal, Lyft drivers may be in an even worse position, Philips says.
“Lyft doesn’t provide access to renewal information at all in the app so that drivers don’t even know their license number – which is an automatic fine by TPS,” she points out.
Having the City of Toronto take over licensing of PTC drivers directly was an issue brought up consistently during the June industry stakeholder consultations for the VFH Review. Rideshare drivers would like to see Toronto to issue a single transferrable licence which would permit them to drive for any company.
With PTC corporations in control of licensing, “We get kicked off the app for any reason,” described driver Johnny on the June 25th PTC videoconference session. “If we tell passengers that they cannot smoke, they cannot drink, they must have a car seat in order to transport children – when we say ‘no,’ they give us one star. We have no recourse.”
The irony of PTC drivers requesting Toronto assume responsibility for their licensing is not lost on Taxi industry members whose businesses were devastated when Private Transportation Company vehicles were allowed to flood the city in 2014.
“This is consistent with the City’s intention to divest itself from the Vehicle for Hire process,” notes Neil Shorey, Assistant General Manager at City Taxi.
PTCs are also now responsible for ensuring their licensed drivers are properly insured, a function City staff still oversee in the Taxi industry.
