england-and-wales civil-law
What is the legal basis or standing of Transport for London (TfL) charging a driver&#39;s award for returning items lost in taxis?
<p>Is it lawful to charge someone more than postage and storage fees for example, in order to reunite them with their lawful property? Is it even legal to charge them storage fees? If so then what is the legal basis for this?</p>

<p><strong>Yes</strong> - they can charge a reasonable amount to cover collection, cataloguing, safekeeping and restoration of property. Crucially they aren't specific to just the costs related to an individual item, but rather the estimated income is weighed against the estimated costs of <strong>all</strong> lost property handling in that year.</p>
<p>The legal basis for this comes from the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/1982/5/pdfs/ukla_19820005_en.pdf" rel="noreferrer">London Transport Act 1982</a>, subsequently amended various times (e.g. by <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1615/schedule/1/paragraph/33/made?wrap=true&amp;view=plain" rel="noreferrer">The Transport for London (Consequential Provisions) Order 2003</a>) but the original gives the gist in Part V, Section 19 :</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Executive shall have power to fix the charges to be paid to them from time to time for the safe keeping and redelivery of lost property and the charges shall be of such amounts or at such rates as the Executive shall think fit:</p>
<p>Provided that -</p>
<p>(a) the total of the charges fixed under this subsection and estimated to be received in any year shall not exceed by an unreasonable proportion the cost to the Executive in that year of making provision for the safe keeping and redelivery of lost property ;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since you specifically mentioned the driver award this is further explained in TfL's <a href="https://content.tfl.gov.uk/lost-property-fees-april-2016.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Lost Property Fees</a> documentation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Cab-driver award</strong></p>
<p>Items found in licensed cabs are subject to an additional award, which is given in full to the driver. This award takes into account the value of the item and the time taken and loss of fare in delivering the item to a police station or the Lost Property Office.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which is fairly sensible, cab drivers are only earning when their carrying fares. By taking steps to mean that they aren't out-of-pocket for turning in the lost items TfL is aiming to increase the number that get handed in rather than simply discarded, or in the case of valuable items simply kept. Which is in keeping with the goals of &quot;safe keeping and redelivery&quot; described in the Act.</p>
<p>The legal basis for this award is in the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksro/1934/1346/pdfs/uksro_19341346_en.pdf" rel="noreferrer">London Cab Order 1934</a>, Part VIII:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(2) If any property found in a cab and deposited at a police station by the cab-driver be claimed within three months from the last day of the month in which the property is received at the Metropolitan Police Lost Property Office, and the claimant proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Police that he is entitled thereto, the property shall be delivered to him on payment to the Commissioner of Police of</p>
<p>(a) a fee in respect of the cost of collecting, keeping in safe custody, and restoring lost property ;</p>
<p>b) an award to the cab-driver by whom the property was deposited; and</p>
<p>(c) such additional sum (if any) as may be payable as hereinafter provided.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/10-11/89" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Town Police Clauses Act 1847</a> (since supplemented by Local Government Acts), which is still the basis of taxi law, states</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>68 Commissioners may make Bye Laws for regulating hackney carriages.</strong><br />
. . .<br />
For securing the safe custody and re-delivery of any property accidentally left in hackney carriages, and fixing the <strong>charges to be made</strong> in respect thereof.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The reason for it is an incentive to return the lost property, rather than discarding it.</p>
<p>When I left my phone in a taxi (not in London), and the cabbie returned it to my house, he asked for a fee of £10. When I asked why, he said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You are the one who was so careless as to drop your phone, and I am the one who is losing business as a result of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So I thanked him and paid.</p>
