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West Van taxicab owner granted ride-hailing licence

A company set up by a West Vancouver taxicab owner has been granted a licence to operate a ride-hailing business by B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board.
ride hailing

A company set up by a West Vancouver taxicab owner has been granted a licence to operate a ride-hailing business by B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board.

The board announced Wednesday it has granted a licence to Hich Ride Sharing Corporation to operate a ride hailing business in the Lower Mainland and Whistler area.

Hich is owned by Abolghasem Abdollahi of West Vancouver, who also owns six taxis and a half-share in a seventh, according to the passenger transportation board’s decision.

Abdollahi told the board in his application that he “has a vested interest in keeping the taxi industry viable” and is planning to use taxi drivers as the company’s primary source of drivers, supplemented by other drivers during periods of peak demand.

Like other ride-hailing services, Hich customers will have to register prior to using the Hich app, then hail and pay for rides through the app.

Unlike other apps, the Hich app will notify a taxi driver when the driver is within a designated radius of a ride and is not on a trip, according to Hich’s submissions to the transportation board. If no taxis are available, other drivers will be notified.

Drivers will pay a $75 monthly subscription fee to use the app and a sign-up fee of $150.

The Hich app is already used in other parts of the world for ride hailing, according to submissions to the transportation board, and has options for providing service in Chinese, Punjabi, French and Tagalog as well as English.

The app can also provide food delivery service, courier service, online shopping and digital banking.

Abdollahi gained public attention several years ago over his legal battles with the City of Vancouver, which cited a company he owned for repeated safety and maintenance violations at two single-room occupancy hotels, The Clifton and The Lion.

Hich was one of three ride-hailing companies granted licences to operate in the Lower Mainland and Whistler region Wednesday.

The company is the second West Vancouver ride-hailing business to be granted a licence.

In February, 1.24079011

, was granted a licence. Owner and former taxi driver Garrindar Parhar announced plans to focus on North and West Vancouver when the company starts its service.

Uber and Lyft also operate on the North Shore.

Meanwhile at the end of March, West Vancouver’s Sunshine Cabs announced it was parking its business at the curb in response to the coronavirus crisis, saying there was no way it could operate while providing required physical distancing.