The London Taxi driver is licensed to ply for hire on London’s streets... while in motion or stationary on a rank (be it outside a hotel, restaurant, shop, underground or mainline station).
We have also been given the grace and favour to legally pick up from ranks on private property such as Airports (LAP and City) and certain hotel forecourts and main line stations.
But that’s not enough for some drivers... they’re looking for a Wonka bar golden ticket, to allow them to get an even bigger slice of the action so to speak.
Many are even willing to sell out long term principles to enable them to jump queues.
Drivers are now deep in the habit of buying back work that is rightfully there’s anyway.
It’s not really new, it’s been like this for many years, first with radio circuits and now through smart phone technology.
Lately it seems we are being smothered by Taxi apps, all vying to sell you jobs, some at knock down prices and others surging just like a certain private hire company that shall remain nameless.
Drivers used to react violently when asked to work alongside PH, in one case completely boycotting one app who dared to dispatch work to PH from the same app as Taxis, causing them to rethink and issue an apology. Hailo never really recovered from the boycott and subsequently sold out to a corporate buyer.
But now times have changed dramatically with street hails few and far between, some drivers driven on by greed are quite willing to work quietly alongside PH.
But now a new boy on the block, I say new but actually they’ve been around for over a year but hadn’t launch till now.
Tappa, offers to sell you back your own work at the knockdown rate of 8% but there’s a caveat to this... they will be operating a system of private bookings through the phone app and not the meter at 5% more than the going rate.
What will the passengers say when they see a fare on the meter but are then charged over and above.... it’s simple say Tappa, you work with the meter off.
Yes you read that correctly, they want you to work through the Uber style meter in the phone app with the meter off.
Isn’t that illegal you ask, no...allegedly they’ve explained their modus operandi to TfL and been given a clean bill of health.
How have they been licensed to operate you may ask, well truth is Licensed Taxi apps don’t need an operators licence because all the drivers are licensed to ply for hire, it’s only when they put PH vehicles on the app they have to apply for an operators licence
So we now have
- One greedy app charging 15%
- Another greedy app surge pricing at busy times, openly charging more than the meter.
- There’s even a semi-secret app for Vitos which pays doorman for airports
And now we have an app that operates its own pricing structure with the meter turned off.
(Are you not insured if you carry passengers without the meter engaged???)
How wonderful TfL must feel, they must be laughing their socks off....drivers signing up to a project horizon style one tiered service.
What is it they say, give some one enough rope, and they will hang themselves.
It’s Turkeys voting for Christmas all over again.
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
If TAPPA are intent on running a service outside the confines and protection of the Taxi meter, as laid down in the legislation of the Hackney Carriage Acts, then the service they are operating is a private hire bookings service that should require a Private Hire Licence.
Surely, by asking drivers to mask the fact from passengers that they are being charged more than the metered rate by not putting on the meter, is deception?
9 comments:
Ah, but you see, a clever cab driver once said 90% of something, oh wait 85%, give it time, and 50% of something is better than nothing. Don’t forget to sign up for your petrol powered taxi, and you can work for free, after the app, cc fees, cab payment, insurance, meter, running costs, license fees, accountant. In fact you’ll be so grateful to be in business, you’ll owe people money for doing it. What joy!. And after 5yrs, you can repeat again, but this time maybe 6yrs.
You forgot road tax , and medical fee to doc at 50 and ongoing, thats only another £400-500 , or 2-3k over the 5 years!
Only a Vito driver would spend up to 4 years studying to drive a taxi and then drive a van.
It's like an HGV1 driving a milk float.
another classic case of the parasites sucking the blood of taxi drivers.we,ve had garage owners and fleet owners telling all who,ll listen "we need more cabs on the road"the same garages who work 9-5 mon -fri so if your cab breaks down at the weekend =tough shit.the credit card companies,for the pleasure of leaving a paper trail for the taxman,we,ve taken a 4% pay cut,hasn,t exactly got all our lost work back from uber,but still the trade orgs all thought it was a wonderfull idea.like to say "on your bike" to all those who want to steal our work,but fear its too late,after all who wants to sit on a bike for 3 years at your own expense and do the knowledge?wish i,d spent my 3 years learning a trade----be lucky.
Why is it that London taxi drivers have this misconception that it is they that ply for hire on the London streets?
Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 section 6(1) Transport for London shall have the function of licensing to ply for hire within the limits of this Act hackney carriages, to be distinguished in such manner as may be prescribed.
Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 section 8(1) Transport for London shall have the function of licensing persons to be drivers of hackney carriages.
(2) No hackney carriage shall ply for hire within the limits of this Act unless under the charge of a driver having a licence under this section from Transport for London.
The only time a hackney carriage is plying for hire is when it is stationary on a ranks, or having been hailed in the street and then becoming stationary. A taxi in motion is not deemed to be plying for hire, nor is it if stationary in traffic, or parked on a designated parking area. Therefore, it does not have a duty to stop when hailed.
If the hackney carriage was deemed to be plying for hire when in motion, then it could not refuse to accept hiring through a radio circuit or any other hiring via any form of modern technology.
Someone needs to inform and ask TfL/T&PH to read the London Cab Order 1934 para 39 SETTING TAXIMETERS IN MOTION
The driver of a motor cab shall, as soon as the cab is hired and no sooner, set the mechanism of the taximeter in motion, and shall, as soon as the hiring is terminated and no sooner, stop the mechanism of the taximeter.
If you had gone into a cab shelter, just 10yrs ago. And made a comment along the lines of: In a few years the cost of a taxi will double, and most of the street work will disappear to an offshore minicab firm, that will control TfL. Any takers?. You’d have been laughed out the door.
Yet here the trade finds itself. In 5yrs time, when the first finance deals are over. How many drivers can work, all the hours, indefinitely?. How many more apps will be operating in 5yrs?. Save yourself the hard work and get out the trade now.
About twenty years ago, a driver showed us on the rank his new addition, a sat nav, an old wise driver said "it will be the finish of us", how right he was! That was bad enough, but the uber cameron/ozzy and bunter bojo deal was the icing on the cake!
No silver lining folks basically we are fucked
I read today Uber loses another $5 billion dollars, are their investors entering squeeky bum time......or are they already there?
The cost of spending with impunity is something uber have calculated will eventually de-stable the competition to the plan of disappearing and then uber will expand to revitalise losses, however, the losses they have made must be causing huge investment doubts and more of this story will become clear over the next few days as will the importance of ubers London License renewal in september which will make uber to double up the losses in legal costs and major publicity drive investments to both influence public support and quell jittery investors.
Watch how desperate Uber is becoming in the next few weeks and remember we are London Cab Drivers and we will see them out if we remain strong and together.
Be Lucky
greenbadgejohn.
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