UberX, which launched in Sydney in April, is a controversial low-cost initiative from Uber that allows anyone with a vehicle to register as a hire car driver. Legally, hire car or taxi drivers must have specific licences in order to operate. Mr Howarth claims that UberX drivers are "operating outside the law," and that they are undermining the work of licensed Uber drivers. On Thursday, he decided to take the law into his own hands. "I ordered an UberX car and got in the vehicle," Mr Howarth said.

"I asked the driver if he had the proper insurance, a public passenger vehicle authority or if he had paid his plate fee. "When he admitted to driving a hire car illegally, I informed him I was a private citizen and that I was affecting a citizen's arrest. "When I took him in with me to the police station, they got a bit confused." When police questioned his right to arrest someone, Mr Howarth recited section 352 of the Crimes Act of 1900. "A person (other than a police officer) may, without a warrant, arrest a person if they are in the act of committing an offence under any act or statutory instrument," he said.

The law relating to a citizen's arrest now falls under Section 100 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002. Newtown police said that the UberX driver had the correct credentials. "Police checks revealed that the driver was driving a registered vehicle and was properly licensed, meaning no further police action was taken." They would not comment on the legality of citizen's arrests.

Uber has labelled the arrest a "stunt".

"It was an attempted publicity stunt," an Uber spokesman in Sydney said. "I'm sure we would have heard if any Uber partners had been arrested, but we have not." Mr Howarth claims that he will continue to arrest an UberX driver every day until the NSW government clamps down on the hire care service. Mr Howarth alleges that "Uber is contravening the legal system, blatantly avoiding paying GST and other relevant taxes". Thursday's arrest was borne out of frustration with the government's inaction over UberX and its drivers skirting the law, Mr Howarth said.

Uber claims that its low-cost UberX service will offer customers up to a 20 per cent discount on standard hire car fees. is in breach of the passenger transport act. The maximum penalty is a $110,000 fine. The NSW Minister for Transport, Gladys Berejiklian, warned that hire car drivers who were not licensed appropriately would face the consequences. "It is currently illegal for drivers in NSW to participate in what we call 'ride-sharing' activities like UberX," she said. "The Roads and Maritime Service has already issued several fines of thousands of dollars for those breaking the law.



"My main concern at this stage is the safety of customers." Mr Howarth said that he had now started a national campaign, and that he had "hundreds of licensed hire car drivers ready to enforce citizen's arrests of UberX drivers".

The Taxi Council of NSW said that it did not condone any citizen's arrests, but that it did have concerns over Uber's business model. Uber has not responded to requests for comment about the legality of their operations.