Cabbies who get passengers through e-hails may not be disciplined by the Taxi & Limousine Commission despite a recent court injunction blocking a city e-hail pilot program.
“Getting e-hails is not illegal per se,” Gabrielf Taussig, chief of the city’s administrative law division, said in a statement Monday.
He declined to elaborate. It was unclear whether cabbies who take e-hails will be issued summonses. The court battle over the e-hail program continues, but the service is still available online through various providers, leading to the confusion.
The city’s apparent fence-sitting posture caused jubilation in the ranks of e-hail providers and frustration among opponents in the livery cab industry who squared off Monday at a private emergency session in the Manhattan Appellate Division.
Last week, Appellate Justice Helen Freedman imposed a temporary injunction on the TLC’s pilot program after livery cab owners argued their business would be irreparably harmed if the program went forward before the legality of it is determined in a lower court.
On Monday, Hailo, a London-based Internet start-up that is one of two providers selected to take part in the city pilot, got Freedman’s permission to argue its case later this month when a full panel of appellate judges considers the injunction.
Hailo CEO Jay Bregman said his firm has already invested $4.7 million to get into the New York market and will lose $504,000 in operating expenses and lost revenue a month if the injunction continues.
The appellate panel will be asked to weigh Hailo’s losses against those of the livery industry. Livery drivers estimate their business will drop by anywhere from 25-40% if the city’s e-hail program is approved.
Since Freedman’s decision last week, Hailo, Uber and other e-hail providers have continued to offer services to riders.
Hailo took the position in court Monday that it doesn’t need a pilot program to function in New York, and its lawyers were thrilled to hear the city’s legal position.
City attorney Michelle Goldberg-Cahn confirmed in a statement last night that the city told the court that essentially what Taussig told The News: “There are no regulations that prevent e-hailing per se.”
Hailo’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement that Freedman then “made it clear that (her) order applies only to the TLC’s pilot program and does not enjoin Hailo.”
“While Hailo very much wants the pilot program to go forward and succeed, we are also prepared to operate legally outside the pilot program,” she added.
Livery cab attorney Randy Mastro said Hailo “can take no comfort” by what happened in court because Freedman rejected Hailo’s request to lift the injunction.
“To the extent Hailo operates illegally, it does so at its peril. The injunction remains in full force and the TLC should be cracking down on those violating local law and defying the court’s order.”
The injunction was issued only for the city’s pilot and does not block the two selected providers and others from offering the services.
bross@nydailynews.com
