While Uber’s existence in Toronto is threatened by a court injunction filed by the city, the cab service may find greater legal restrictions throughout the province if a private member’s bill tabled Wednesday gets approved.

Ottawa South MPP John Fraser is calling for amendments to the Highway Traffic Act that would impose heavy fines, license suspensions and vehicle impoundments for taxi drivers operating without a licence.

The proposed legislation, called Protecting Passenger Safety Act, increases fines for unlicensed cab drivers to anywhere between $500 and $30,000 from the current $300 to $20,000 per offense. Drivers would also get 3 demerit points.

After the first conviction, subsequent offences could result in drivers’ licences getting suspended and their vehicles impounded for a month.

Fraser acknowledges that as new technologies emerge, companies such as Uber are here to stay, but since they are transporting the public, they need to be regulated just as airlines and rail services are in the interest of public safety.

“The most important thing about these regulations is the safety of the passenger,” Fraser said. “It’s the first thing you need to think about. What my bill does is say this is important and if you don’t follow the rules, if you don’t ensure the public is safe, then these are the penalties.”

In Ottawa, Fraser said unlicensed taxi drivers have been found with guns in their cars, running bootlegging operations or lacking appropriate commercial insurance policies that would protect the passenger in case of accidents. Most recently, one such cabbie was charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement of a passenger.

Uber has said it performs stringent criminal background checks on drivers that partner with the rideshare company, and that rides are backed by liability insurance covering bodily injury and property damage.

A spokesperson for Uber said the bill would “throttle innovation” by imposing a regulatory framework that would create the same problems that technology tries to solve.

“As ridesharing has matured, many jurisdictions have worked closely with ridesharing companies to draft ridesharing regulations that ensure the protection of the public, while recognizing the inherent differences between ridesharing and the traditional taxi and limousine industries,” Uber spokesperson Xavier Van Chau said in an email to CP24.com.

Fraser said his bill is not specifically targeted at Uber, but bandit cabs in general. The stiffer penalties are needed, he said, because the current $300 fine is a wage that drivers can easily recoup in a day.

Unifor, which represents thousands of cab drivers in Ontario, issued a press release to express support for Fraser’s bill and urge all parties to vote in its favour. Amrik Singh, president of Local 1688 which represents Ottawa cab drivers, said that while there is a place for ridesharing apps, no company should be able to skirt the law simply by calling itself a technology company.

In Toronto, the city has applied for a court injunction to halt Uber’s operations over alleged violations of 36 by-laws. But newly elected Mayor John Tory has spoken out in favour of the company saying that “we have to modernize the way we regulate things.”