Mohammed Hafiz Raja, of Trinity Hall Close, Watford, has been fined £850 plus costs after he was found guilty of breaching the Equality Act back in June 2019.
The Uber driver refused entry for partially-sighted Colin Perreira (pictured), from Hemel Hempstead, and his guide dog.
Mr Perreira had booked the Uber at Watford Junction on June 27, but Mr Raja would not allow the dog to travel in the car.
Colin Perreira filmed the ordeal on the day, and despite explaining to the driver that it was illegal, Mr Raja drove off anyway.
The court case was brought before Westminster Magistrate’s Court on February 12 by Transport for London (TfL) and Mohammed was ordered to pay costs which altogether amounted to over £1,700.
Speaking to WatfordNews, Colin said: “It’s a much better outcome than I expected. I thought he’d be fined a lot less than he was, and I’m really pleased with how public the case has been.
“I was incredibly angry (at the time of the incident) because he didn’t even give an excuse – he just said he didn’t want to take us which was incredibly selfish.
“I’m not sure how much this outcome is going to change the big picture, though. The problem with TfL and Uber is that they’re reactive, not proactive. They aren’t doing much to stop these things from happening, but when they do happen, they apologise and say they won’t charge me.
“It would be a much bigger deal if it was a case of racial discrimination or something along those lines – then it’s a hate crime. It should be exactly the same for people with disabilities – how is this any different?”
Helen Chapman, TfL’s director of licensing, regulation and charging, said: “We are currently exploring whether there is anything further we can do to help prevent incidents of this nature, such as automatically revoking a driver’s licence.”
Picture courtesy of Plymouth Live
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