Taxi Driver Online

I doubt the council will have issues getting anything they want from Uber.

Uber will have to give access, to their local records, to the council, which is why I made the 'computer screen' remark earlier on in this thread.

Give the council an on line log on to their server, and the problem is gone. Alternately the council tell Uber when they want to visit the office/room, and a Uber man meets them there and opens the door and prints off whatever details the council want.

I might be missing something but the inspection process issue is the easiest one to address.

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IDFIMH

The police need a JP or Judge to sign a warrant for that.

I think it would be wrong for a council official to turn up unannounced to view records, there really is no need.

The fact that they don't need to inform the operator exactly what they want prior to the inspection is a suitable enough enforcement safeguard.

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IDFIMH

As long as they only use London PH then yes, but they don't so no.

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IDFIMH

There have been many discussions about Uber in the last few months, specially what is Legal and what isn't.
I worked with Uber so I have a lot of inside knowledge of how it works.
''Jobs'' are booked via an App on the customers smart phone.
The user can open the App and look for the nearest vehicle to them and will see all ''available'' vehicles on their screen displayed on a map format.
The customer chooses the vehicle they wish to for whatever reason (mostly they would choose the nearest vehicle).
The driver gets a message on his smart phone telling him of this request.
The only information he has is the first name of the user and the ''rating'' given to them by drivers who have previously carried the passenger.
The driver has 15 seconds to accept or refuse the request.If he accepts then the customer is informed on his smart phone and the driver given the ''location'' of the customer and the location can be displayed on his smart phone and he can ask for a sat nav to guide him to the pick up point.
At the same time the customer is sent a photograph of the driver and the registration number of his vehicle along with the make and colour of the vehicle.
Once the driver has arrived and made contact with the customer he logs it on his smart phone which then ''may'' tell him the destination and give him the option of using a stanav.
At the destination the driver log his smart phone which will calculate the ''fare'' for the journey which is worked out on time and distance travelled.
Briefly this is how it works.
Problems for the driver :...There is no back up in case of problems of Any sort.There is no human contact with anyone in case the driver needs urgent assistance if for instance he is attacked.
Fares charged are ultra low.
Uber charge 20% of the fare as their commision.
Conclusion:...Uber puts every PH base under threat as they have very limited overheads and operate from a remote location unlike a PH base which has to be manned 24/7.
Drivers in my experience earn very little after expenses as the fares are so low.
What we are going into is a low wage structure as far as Taxi/PH drivers are concerned.
Uber seem to be by passing a lot of ''legal requirements'' such as having a premises to operate from with planning permission for the same and the requirement for the operator to disbures the ''job'' since all they are doing is acting as a go between ...merely connecting the customer with the driver without any prior knowledge of the booking or the destination.
Their fares are also ''variable'' depending on supply and demand. This again is again the rules of operating a normal PH where ''fares'' have to be notified to the council weeks before any changes are made. Here the ''fares'' can range from ''normal'' fare to a surge of 5 times which means the fare will be 5 times the normal rate due to excess demand.This was experienced in Australia during an attack in Sydney.
I hope I have answered most questions and will be happy to answer anything which remains unclear.

I think it would be helpful for the customer to know the badge number of the driver as well as the plate number. Uber don't seem to do this according to what is written above. I still fail to see the need for an actual office in every location they operate from although a customer/driver service number would be useful. Is there no panic button on the app for the driver?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

It is a legal requirement for a PH operator to have a base or location in some sort of premises.
The office can be with or without ''waiting'' areas for customers.
All records re bookings should be kept at the premises and be available for inspection by relevant authorities.
There is an argument currently going on in Manchester as the council had provided ''operators'' licence for use in a public park. The council have accepted that such licences should never have been issued in the first place as it does not comply with the laws.
In answer to your question about any panic button on the app...No there is no such thing and as the whole operation is computer based and operated remotely there is no one to assist the driver in any situation.
Everything is done by e-mails and the driver gets a response after some time and definitely none at week ends.
Like I said previously this idea will result in PH and Taxi drivers becoming cheap labour and it will be impossible for anyone to earn any sort of living out of the ''job''.

I know the laws/regulations regarding ph operator bases I just don't agree that they are absolutely necessary. With technology, licencing officers can have access to any records they require for a considerable number of years. I do agree that a head office is required in the Uk/England depending where their main operations are. Who is there to answer a panic button now? Other drivers are the main source of support for drivers that use a panic button and they will still be there in the event of use with an app based company. With regard to it becoming a cheap labour option that is entirely up to the drivers, if they don't like the price then they shouldn't sign up, these companies would go to the wall without drivers regardless of how much work they obtain, drivers don't realise this they just think more work more money. I certainly wouldn't be giving 20% of my income to anybody anymore, simples

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

You aint taking the mong factor into consideration

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Even Muhammad Ali agrees -

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Of course I am but I have a simple outlook regarding such things

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

That is an interesting stand point considering that you were against the bit in the deregulation bill that allows cross border hiring and you are now happy for private hire operators to have a "virtual" operating address.

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Grandad,

I think you will find my strongest objection was in fact to anybody being able to drive a licensed a vehicle tho

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

The customer can't choose any vehicle. They can choose which service they want (UberX, UberExec, UberBlack, UberLux, UberTaxi, UberSUV, etc.....availability varies from market to market), but I've not known that the passenger that specify a vehicle within that service? The app will automatically send the job request to the nearest driver first, anyway.

An app called Bounce in London does that, whereby a picture of the driver, car, and driver's name and car year, are displayed to the passenger, before they choose a driver.

Uber charges 20%, as they're running a business, and have to make their money somehow. It's not different than a traditinal cab office charging a weekly rental/circuit fee. At least with the commission, you're just paying for the jobs you do "pay as you go", so you only pay, when you work, regardless whether it's busy or quiet as is the case of a weekly fee, which has to be paid regardless.

Yes, during the hostage crisis in Sydney, people were trying to leave the area en masse, which probably includes Uber drivers. So, obviously, when the demand increases, along with a decreasing supply because of the situation, it is inevitable, that the fares are going to surge. Furthermore, why would an Uber driver, risk their life, and their main tool/asset used for their income, to be hanging around the area, especially if the rates were to stay the same. Plus as the area was in lockdown, the police weren't going to let any vehicles inside the area.

Not sure, if your last two points I quoted was information or critiques, but my reply is what I think.

So you were in favour of the cross border hiring.

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Grandad,

I never said that, did I?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!