WATERLOO REGION - The battle between taxi and Uber drivers escalated Friday to alleged violence in the street.

The Waterloo Region Taxi Alliance is encouraging cabbies to take photos of Uber drivers and their licence plates or to order Uber rides to get driver information. The information will be posted online and sent to insurance companies and the Canada Revenue Agency, the alliance claims.

But when a taxi driver did this Friday night it resulted in an allegedly violent altercation in Kitchener.

A 55-year-old Cambridge man faces charges of assault with a weapon and dangerous driving after an incident with a City Cab driver.

The two argued when the City Cab driver saw the Uber driver and confronted him.

The cabbie squatted down to take a picture of the driver's licence plate, according to Waterloo Regional Police and was allegedly struck lightly by the Uber driver's car before the Cambridge man took off, also allegedly running two red lights on King Street.

"We don't want people taking things into their own hands because it can lead to violence and vendettas and you don't want that - not that they're doing that - but as you can see, things happen," Coun. Jane Mitchell said.

Mitchell chairs the regional committee that oversees the local taxi industry.

David Maxwell, a hired spokesperson for the taxi alliance, said he's surprised this is the first altercation.

He warned taxi drivers only have so much patience.

"I really don't want our drivers to be standing in front of Uber drivers very much, because there's only so much tolerance that our drivers are going to have," Maxwell said.

Maxwell said there were no repercussions from City Cab or the alliance for the driver involved.

Susie Heath, spokesperson with Uber Canada, said she is aware of the incident.

"When we heard of this incident, we immediately removed the driver from the platform and have been in contact with local law enforcement to be of assistance in any way that we can," she said.

In an effort to calm tensions, the Region of Waterloo, which regulates the local taxi industry, is expected to start charging Uber drivers for violating the regional taxi bylaw.

Under the current bylaw Uber cars are illegal, though the region plans to make them legal under a proposed new bylaw scheduled to take effect in January.

About 60 warnings have been sent to Uber drivers so far, with charges expected to start next week, Mitchell said.

The Uber app allows almost anyone to offer rides-for-hire in their personal vehicle. The app also allows people to book, track and pay for a ride with their smartphone.

Cabbies oppose Uber saying it is illegal and unfair because drivers don't pay harmonized sales tax or follow other regulations, including proper insurance.

That's why they want to identify drivers to the Canada Revenue Agency and insurance companies.

Maxwell said 'Operation Smile' seeks to post driver information to a central hub for the insurance industry, but the site isn't publicly available.

Maxwell said he couldn't provide access to The Record to verify the page's existence.

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Mitchell said the conflict hasn't escalated to the extent it has in other cities and she hopes it will calm down.

"Taxi drivers are upset all over the world," Mitchell said. "We haven't had riots in the streets yet so . I'm hoping that once we move to charges that maybe that will sort of lower their feelings."

The final public consultation session on the region's draft vehicle for hire bylaw is scheduled for today from 5 to 8 p.m. at regional headquarters, 150 Frederick St., Kitchener.