Dismissal of six drivers 'arbitrary'

Dubai: The decision to dismiss six Dubai Taxi drivers for jumping a red signal and giving them a one-year ban "is a punishment tougher than the offence," a lawyer said yesterday.

Dubai Taxi terminated the drivers' services and will allow them to continue for a month before they are sent back home with a one-year ban, mainly because they jumped red signals, Ammar Bin Tamim, Dubai Taxi Director, told Gulf News yesterday.

Lawyer Mohammad Al Shaiba of Al Bahr Advocates and Legal Consultants who specialises in labour cases, considered the decision "arbitrary dismissal, I deem the punishment stiffer than the offence itself.

"I also believe that it is an arbitrary dismissal unless the company was directly authorised by the Ruler to issue such punishment even if it was listed in the company's statutes."

Bin Tamim said: "On November 12 of last year I issued a memo warning the drivers who jump a red signal or drive on hard shoulders that they will have their contracts terminated, and that was following the orders of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to come down hard on errant drivers. All the drivers received the warning in hand and we even posted a copy of it on the bulletin boards."

Since the decision was taken, he said this action helped to reduce the number of road accidents by 33 per cent.

"Jumping a red signal has become an act [of our taxi drivers] which is not tolerated by us. This is a major traffic violation which endangers the lives of the drivers themselves as well as others.

"Before taking action against any driver, we bring the required evidence from the Traffic Department and show it to the driver," added Dubai Taxi's director.

Advocate Hamdan Al Harmi of Hamdan Al Harmi Advocates and Legal Consultants said the first time a driver jumps a red signal, he should be referred to the concerned authorities and not punished by his employer.

"The second time he does it, I believe it would be fair enough to be penalised by his company in addition to the concerned authorities. At the third time, he should be given a final warning after which he should be dismissed and have his visa cancelled if the offence is repeated," Al Harmi said.