TfL Reply Confirms Uber Are Operating Illegally....And Always Have Been.

Lee Ward investigates :  How far would TfL go to licence an App that would illegally ply for hire ?

Dear TfL. 

I am considering investing in an app for Private Hire.

The App is basically when a member of the public requires a Private Hire to take them on a journey they ask the driver to take them.

The driver then asks for the customers name and inputs that into the App.

The App takes a GPS stamp of the drivers location and when he finishes the journey it takes another GPS to record the destination.

The App then sends this information to the base (licensed operator) and records the journey with the above information, which is;

Date and time
Customer name
Pick up location
Destination

Before I invest in this App, I wish to confirm that it would meet the criteria of TfL and if not, what part would require addressing.

Many thanks

Lee Ward

Their reply from the copy and paste specialist...

Dear Mr Ward

Thank you for your further email of 5 January 2016.

Booking via an app is legal as long as a private hire journey is booked in advance through a licenced private hire operator, and the job is then despatched to a licensed driver and vehicle.

The time between a booking being made and a journey starting is not currently subject to any statutory control in primary legislation, or regulations.

Yours sincerely

Chelsee Mckinlay
Correspondence and Investigations Officer
Service Operations
Transport for London

So on that bombshell, TfL have basically legalised Plying for Hire through the use of an App, any more proof that they are not fit for purpose?

This App would be illegal in many ways but TfL have not offered to explain that in their reply...

Editorial Comment : 

Let's just run with part of that reply again....surely TfL have just explained that Ubers modus operandi is totally illegal!

'Booking via an app is legal as long as a private hire journey is booked in advance through a licenced private hire operator, and the job is then despatched to a licensed driver and vehicle'.

Haven't we just seen Ube give evidence, to a court in Toronto, that they do not take bookings and that when a job comes into the system, it goes directly to the driver who accepts the booking in the vehicle. 

Uber stress, they are not a private hire company -even though TfL licence them as one- but a technology company. 

Using their evidence, given under oath in Toronto, Uber's operating system in London is 100% illegal and as such, their licence should be immediately revoked by Mayor Sadiq Khan.