Taxi-hailing app Uber has been charged with operating without a license

Since  launching last March, Uber, the best known of Toronto’s taxi- and limo-hailing apps, has seen its share of vocal opposition and legal sabre rattling. Now, the city has charged the San Francisco–based company behind the app with 25 licensing offences, which could force it to cease operations in Toronto. Uber probably should have expected the move: earlier this year, the city questioned whether its operations were in line with a city bylaw that states that “any person or entity which accepts calls in any manner for booking, arranging or providing limousine transportation” needs a licence. Pricing is another sticky point: Uber charges customers 20 per cent more than the metred fare to cover the driver’s gratuity, and, allegedly, its own operating costs, violating a bylaw stating taxis must charge the metered rate. The company maintains it’s a tech company that simply works with licensed carriers and is not a carrier itself. Even if that defence doesn’t fly, app-loving Torontonians should still have some options. Hailo, for instance, has a licence and charges cab drivers rather than passengers, while Rosedale Livery and Beck both have in-house apps. [Toronto Star]