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⚡ TLC Says NYTWA Amendment To EV Plate TRO Should Be Denied, Trying To "Prevent Competition"
City legal team says NYTWA request to amend TRO should not be granted. 9,756 EV FHV License (TLC Plate) Apps received. TLC Chair David Do continues to double down on flawed policymaking & execution
A few days ago, we published an article: ⚡ TLC Could Take 6 to 9 Months To Process ~10,000 New EV Plate Applications. Some jumped on our reporting saying we were trying to essentially spread ‘fake news’ or were ‘in the pockets’ of the TLC rental companies 🤔. In reality, we were simply reporting on a letter NYTWA filed with the New York State Supreme Court that stated the following:
Furthermore, in this month’s issue of the Black Car News, TLC Chair David Do states.
“We will be processing all these applications and scheduling inspections for months to come.”
- NYC TLC Chair & Commissioner David Do
What’s apparent to us is TLC Chair David Do’s misinformed and uneducated “predatory leasing” trope, which he continues to repeat without quantifying anything or holding a hearing, seems to be causing unnecessary conflict and is his attempt at diverting attention from his failures as TLC Chair.
This is where we continue stand, if it’s not clear.
We continue to call for David Do to resign as Chair & Commissioner of the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), effective immediately.
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AutoMarketplace Conflicted?
As we’ve grown our subscriber base, it’s probably a good moment to say a few words about AutoMarketplace and whether we’re in anyone’s “pockets” 🤑.
Firstly, if you are a subscriber and feel our reporting is conflicted, we hope you give us feedback, so we can clarify any question or potential misunderstanding. We will also not be offended if you choose to unsubscribe because you think our reporting is falling short, but we hope you give us the opportunity to respond to feedback before you make that decision.
We try our best to be balanced and transparent. HOWEVER, being balanced doesn’t mean you’re always going to agree with us. So, to be clear, we’re not going to apologize if you simply disagree with our opinions or analysis. We will definitely engage (even encourage) thoughtful debate and are expecting that many people will disagree with us, a lot of the time. Isn’t that kindof the point of good journalism, free press, etc?
For example, we don’t own and have never owned a taxi medallion, but any genuinely curious, honest journalist or media organization that covers the NYC for-hire transportation industry, should cover that sector’s perspectives.
In the future, if AutoMarketplace, or any related entity, buys a taxi medallion, Uber shares, generates advertising revenue from companies that could be interpreted as compromising our reporting, we’ll reveal that or it’ll be obvious. In fact, we’ve recently signed up 5 new advertising partners (you’ll see their ads soon) and one of them totally disagreed with our reporting on taxi medallion values crashing, but they appreciated our content and the discussion it promoted.
Finally, as many of our subscribers/followers already know, because we’ve discussed it several times and have always been transparent about it, we got our start in the TLC industry as an UberBlack-focused “luxury” TLC leasing company BEFORE any FHV License Pause (TLC Plate Cap) even existed. Our fleet business, which we have not grown (actually shrunk to less than 25 licenses) since the the TLC’s original FHV License Pause (Plate Cap) in August 2018, is actually more attractive WITH an EV exemption existing.
We know there is a huge demand for a leasing company that offers UberBlack-qualified electric vehicles (EVs), as these vehicles are too expensive to purchase for most individual drivers and many are nervous to make such a significant investment. However, we also understand if no one can make money, that sort of business isn’t going to work for anyone - driver or leasing company.
We hope you didn’t find the above didactic, but wanted to say some words before getting into today’s story, which is the TLC’s response to NYTWA’s letter asking for the TRO to be amended to “limit the issuance of EV FHV licenses to active drivers in leasing arrangements, or else prioritize EV FHV license issuance to such drivers.”
TLC Response to NYTWA
We paste the entire four page response (see below) submitted by the City’s Law Department, which is representing the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC).
Here is our quick bullet point summary of the response (Note: not professional legal analysis).
Essentially impractical for TLC to effectively categorize “active drivers in leasing arrangements” vs. others. In addition, some individual drivers applied via a corporate entity
TLC estimates most drivers spent between $550 to $1,425 to complete EV application process (excluding deposit to acquire vehicle (VIN))
TLC now confirms 9,756 EV TLC Plate applications have been received (this is a slightly higher number from prior reports). TLC previously disclosed to all parties that final number might fluctuate
City states no specific evidence or facts that support claim that many TLC drivers who are in leasing arrangements would be stuck paying for two vehicles while EV TLC Plate applications are being processed. Even if NYTWA could prove that, TLC’s argument against granting any preferential treatment still stands
City states TLC doesn’t collect information on leases (note: obvious question would be what is the basis of TLC Chair David Do’s “predatory leasing” accusations, if TLC doesn’t even have this information, has not conducted a study or held a hearing on the FHV leasing industry? 🤔)
TLC states NYTWA is trying to “prevent competition” with its members
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
AutoMarketplace NYC covers the for-hire transportation industry and automotive news. Check out AutoMarketplace on YouTube ▶️
I wanted to extend my sincere appreciation for your insightful coverage on this topic. I've been following the developments closely, particularly regarding the NYTWA Lawsuit on EV FHA Licenses. Your expertise in this matter is evident, and I value your perspective. I'd be interested to know your opinion on what the future holds for this lawsuit.
If the TLC truly believes leasing companies are “predatory,” then why are these same leasing companies allowed to also purchase EV licenses? Doesn’t this just perpetuate the so called predatory behavior with more vehicles to lease to defenseless drivers?