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When Uber driver Anupam Kakkar recently dropped off a customer near a taxi stand at Metcalfe and Sparks, a trio of licensed cabbies quickly spotted him.

“F— Uber, f— Uber,” the cabbies started shouting, Kakkar says.

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(The customer had unintentionally tipped the taxi drivers off by hopping out of the back seat of the Uber, instead of the front, where most clients ride more discreetly.)

Kakkar said he was ready to have it out.

“I got out with the posture of taking a stand, facing them,” Kakkar said. “I do what I do. That’s what I heard and that’s something that was very offensive. I opened the door and got out with a very firm body language.

“They knew my face. . . . That was it.”

They recognized Kakkar because he used to be a cabbie, just like them.

Amid rancorous debate at city hall about allowing Uber and other ride-hailing apps to operate legally in Ottawa, Kakkar says he’s not alone in making the switch but that he’s the only one talking publicly about it.