Taxis - Uber, Black Cabs, and the Congestion Charge - Commentary

The rise of the phone Apps such as Uber, which connect passengers with available drivers in their immediate locality, has created a considerable tension between their service and the Hackney Carriages trade, in London particularly.

The issue and / or cause of the tension differs depending on what side of the argument you stand.  Although a gross simplification, the Hackney Trade rails against the undercutting of their venerable service by an less regulated internet upstart, the phone Apps on the other hand point to an outdated system lashing out at progress and protecting themselves at the cost of customer value and choice.  The arguments are in obviously  much more nuanced and have taken up many pages of analysis.

Although the rise appears to go on unchecked in the UK, those opposed continue to create hurdles for the Apps to clear.

In October 2015, Transport for London (TfL) lost in the High Court on the issue of whether or not the GPS smart phone app used by drivers to calculate fares was in fact a taxi meter.  Only black cabs in London are permitted to use meters which are regulated and checked by TfL to ensure they remain accurate.  If TfL had won the phone App companies could not have continued in their present form but the Court disagreed with TfL.  Although this was an important decision for the taxi App operators, the loss again highlight the generaly out of date regulation for taxis in the UK and London.  Regulation devised before the rise of the internet was once again shown to be unable to cope with new challenges and business structures.

At the same time as the High Court’s reversal, TfL undertook a consultation regarding private hire regulation review.  The consultation ran from the 30^th September 2015 to 23^rd December 2015 and included a number of proposals for private hire companies including many of which, if implemented, would have directly disproportionally impacted on the phone App operators.  The proposals included:

• A requirement for operators to provided confirmation of the booking at least 5 minutes before the journey. (This would potentially cause unnecessary delay as collections can often be made within the 5 minute window).
• A requirement that companies must not show vehicles being available for immediate hire (either visibly or virtually – through an App).  (This is a key feature of many taxi Apps).
• Driver may only work for one operator at a time.  (This would primarily affect App drivers who commonly work for more than one company, including ‘traditional companies’).

TfL received a large number of responses to consultation leading to the Major of London (Boris Johnson) announcing on Wednesday 20^th January that the measures would not be pursued further after failing to secure widespread support.

This is not the final obstacle however as TfL announced immediately that  it was now considering the imposition of the congestion charge on private hire vehicles which have previously been exempt.

The struggle continues; we shall keep you updated.