A taxicab medallion lender claims Uber’s electronic hails are illegal and sent letters to the TLC and Mayor Bill de Blasio threatening a suit if the city doesn’t act.
Melrose Credit Union argues city law gives only yellow cabs the right to accept hails from passengers — an exclusive privilege in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from medallion sales.
In January, the Taxi & Limousine Commission defined in new rules that a hail is a request for a taxi through calling out, raising a hand — or using an electronic method like an app, according to the MCU letter.
Only a fraction of Uber’s trips go through its yellow-cab service, uberT. Most are done through its other services, which use black cars — even though city law forbids black cars from picking up hails.
“We are hopeful that the city will keep its commitment and do the right thing here, but if necessary, we are confident that the courts will uphold the rule of law and resolve the matter in a way that is fair and just,” said Todd Higgins, an attorney for the MCU.
The credit union describes smartphone trips by black cars as an “unprecedented misappropriation of billions of dollars from taxicab medallion owners — a scheme that now threatens to collapse the industry.”
“We continue to welcome and encourage innovation from both the yellow and FHV industries,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg. “At the TLC, we are working continuously to maintain a fair and level competitive field that serves the interests of all of New York City’s riders and residents, even as new technologies change the nature of many segments of the transportation industry.”