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Meanwhile, taxi drivers are taking their own action, arguing in court that the whole regime the board has set up to govern ride-hailing should be tossed out.

Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Vancouver lawyer Peter Gall — who represents Yellow Cabs, Black Top Cabs, Maclure’s Cabs, Vancouver Taxi, North Shore Taxi, Richmond Cabs, Bonny’s Taxi, Burnaby Select Taxi and Queen City Taxi — told Postmedia that he believes the board does not have the statutory power to create operating policies for ride-hailing before receiving applications, and if they did, they would have to consult with taxi companies affected. He said he is also challenging whether the board has the power to have two sets of rules for passenger transportation providers.

“They want the (operating) policies quashed and they want a fair hearing before the Passenger Transportation Board,” said Gall, referring to the taxi companies’s request to the court.

The board has 21 days to respond to the court case.

He said taxi companies accept that ride-hailing businesses like Uber and Lyft are coming, but they do not accept the rules that the board created, which they believe give ride-hailing an unfair advantage over traditional taxis. They are also challenging the board creating two sets of operating policies, one for ride-hailing and one for taxis.

“The taxi industry says that before you introduce policies to support the business model of Uber and Lyft, you have to carefully scrutinize that business model and you have to give the affected parties an opportunity to respond to that business model and it didn’t do that,” he said. “That’s why we want the policy quashed and we want a fair hearing before the board to look into that business model.”