Judge hits un-fare seizures

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has no right to seize the cars of car-service drivers suspected of only illegally picking up street hails, a federal judge has ruled.

The ruling, by Manhattan Judge Ronnie Abrams, said the TLC can’t seize cars until drivers go to court or pay fines, even if they’ve been busted in the past for picking up hails.

The TLC presented “no evidence” that inspectors who seized cars from plaintiffs Susan Calvo and Kelly Macon “had any reasonable basis for believing” they were “found liable” for operating as unlicensed for-hire cabs, Abrams wrote.

The ruling takes an even stronger stance than that in a 2015 federal case that said the TLC could not seize the cars of first-time offenders.

TLC officials declined to comment on the ruling by Abrams.