The Administrative Court of the State Council has postponed looking into the lawsuit filed by Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Salam, El Sayed Abdel Baset, and Madbouly Abdel Moneim to suspend the licensing of Careem and Uber, to 14 May.
Lawsuit no. 33744 for judicial year 71 has sued the Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, the Minister of Local Development, the director of the General Administration of Traffic, the director of the General Authority for Investment, and the legal representatives of Uber and Careem.
The Administrative Court had issued a ruling a few weeks ago, accepting the appeal of 153 taxi drivers against the decision of the Minister of Interior that suspended the issuance of taxi licenses until a letter is obtained from banks, confirming that all instalments were paid.
Mahmoud Abdel Hameed, head of the association of taxi drivers and owners, said that the court had issued a ruling in favour of the white taxi drivers in lawsuit no. 55475 for judicial year 69, filed by Adel Yahya and others.
He explained that taxi drivers are allowed to renew their licences without the obtainment of a letter from the bank to certify they have paid all instalments.
The ruling’s paper said that within the protocol of removing old taxis from the Ministry of Interior’s and banks’ records—with the aim of developing the transport system in Cairo and limit environmental pollution—the plaintiff and the other intervening opponents have purchased cars in instalments from banks, with the seller keeping ownership. They obtained the licences to drive them from the specialised traffic departments.
However, the administrative authority required that the renewal of their licenses includes submitting an approval letter from the bank.
The report of the State Commissioners Authority said that this measure does not have a legal basis because the plaintiffs have the right to renew and obtain their licences.
The paper explained that the traffic law does not require a letter of approval from banks to renew licences, which means that if the court rules otherwise, it will be developing a new condition that the law did not previously include.
The relationship between a bank’s seller and purchaser is controlled by the organised rules of the Civil Law.
The report concluded with affirming the illegality of the decision to suspend the licensing of these taxis.
