El Cheikh v Roads and Maritime Services [2017] NSWCATOD 33

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: El Cheikh v Roads and Maritime Services [2017] NSWCATOD 33 Hearing dates: 1 March 2017 Date of orders: 13 March 2017 Decision date: 13 March 2017 Jurisdiction: Occupational Division Before: K Ransome, Senior Member Decision: The decision under review is affirmed. Catchwords: PASSENGER TRANSPORT – Refusal of taxi-cab authority – whether fit and proper person – history of complaints and past cancellation of authority – whether behaviour likely to continue Legislation Cited: Passenger Transport Act 1990 Cases Cited: Director General, Transport New South Wales v AIC [2011] NSWADTAP 65 Saadieh v Director General, Department of Transport [1999] NSWADT 68 Loye v Director General, Department of Transport [2000] NSWADT 145 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Chawkat El Cheikh (Applicant) Roads and Maritime Services (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: H El Cheikh (agent for the Applicant) Smythe Wozniak Legal (Respondent) File Number(s): 2016/00378815

REASONS FOR DECISION 1. This is an application by Mr Chawkat El Cheikh for review of a decision refusing him an authority to drive taxi-cabs. His application for the taxi authority was refused by Roads and Maritime Services because Roads and Maritime Services could not attest that Mr El Cheikh is a fit and proper person to be the driver of a taxi-cab.

Background 1. Mr El Cheikh told the Tribunal he has been driving taxis since 1978. He was first issued with a taxi-cab driver authorisation in August 1990 following the introduction of the Passenger Transport Act 1990. 2. On 6 October 2000, following a number of complaints by customers, Mr El Cheikh was directed to undertake a remedial training course. He completed the course on 11 October 2000. However, further complaints were received and on 27 February 2001 he was issued with a "Notice to Show Cause" why his authority should not be cancelled. When he failed to respond to the notice, a further notice was issued. After considering his response, on 6 September 2001 Roads and Maritime Services issued Mr El Cheikh with a final warning. 3. On 22 January 2003 Mr El Cheikh was issued with an infringement notice for "Accept hire outside taxi zone". He appealed against the infringement but was convicted and ultimately required to pay a fine of $1000 plus costs. 4. Between February 2004 and June 2012 more than 20 complaints were registered against Mr El Cheikh. The nature of these complaints varied and included demanding more than the prescribed fare, failure to use a meter, improper behaviour, refusal to accept credit/debit card, multiple hire without consent, failure to provide reasonable assistance to customer, cleanliness, refusal of fare, rude to customer, driving in an unsafe manner, road rage by driver and failure to drive by the shortest possible route. As a result of these complaints, on 10 May 2012 Mr El Cheikh was directed to undertake a further remedial training course. He undertook the course on 19 July 2012. 5. Between the date of completing the course and May 2014 Mr El Cheikh had a further 12 complaints made against him. These complaints primarily concerned overcharging but also included rudeness and unsafe driving. A further two complaints were received before his authority was cancelled on 14 July 2014 because Roads and Maritime Services could not attest that Mr El Cheikh is a fit and proper person to be the driver of a taxi-cab. 6. Since then Mr El Cheikh has made two applications to be issued with a new authority (one in November 2014 and the other in September 2016 which is the subject of this application) and both were refused.