Taxi app Uber close to launching in Leicester


Taxi-ordering app Uber is expected to launch in Leicester in the near future, the Mercury has learned.

The city council has confirmed it has granted Uber permission to operate here but says the company has yet to attach any drivers to its licence.

Uber itself has told the Mercury it plans to set up in Leicester but not said exactly when.

The California-based company is already operating in other UK cities, including London, Nottingham and Newcastle, but its cheap prices have made it unpopular with the traditional taxi trade.

Uber customers hail cabs using their smartphones and pay automatically on arriving at their destination with a credit or debit card.

No cash changes hands.

The app uses GPS technology to locate available Uber drivers near the customers and send them to pick them up.

Drivers sign up as independent contractors and Uber takes a share of their fares.

It is understood Uber is currently recruiting cabbies in the city and looking to open an office near the railway station.

It is understood a number of city-based private hire car firms unsuccessfully opposed Uber's application to set up here.

The Leicester RMT branch represents hackney cab drivers in the city.

Branch secretary Umar Khan said: "This will affect all drivers in the city but we think the public will always want to use the hackney carriages so it will have a bigger impact on the private hire trade.

"Uber will be cheaper but you might end up getting drivers from Birmingham being sent here driving people around without any local knowledge.

"It is a concern."

Private hire firm ADT Taxis operates in Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville and spokesman David Hunter said: "We have, over the last two years, been preparing for the day when Uber reaches Leicester, and have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds developing our own GPS App.

"We believe it is better than Uber's.

"We also offer fixed prices, and customers are able to hail taxis, pre book, track the taxis, and also pay by card or cash.

"We also have some one at the end of the telephone with knowledge of the local area, whom is there to help."

An Uber spokesperson said: "We look forward to offering a safe, reliable and affordable choice for people in Leicester.

"Uber has been licensed as an operator by more than 30 city councils across the UK and we are excited about being able to connect riders with licensed, private-hire drivers at the touch of a button.

Earlier this year The High Court in London was asked to decide whether the Uber drivers' smartphones were considered to be taximeters, which are outlawed for private hire vehicles.

It followed concerns raised by the traditional taxi trade and Transport for London.

A judge however ruled the phones did not work like meters in a decision hailed as victory by Uber.


Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Taxi- ... z3rm9Leaf0

With the RMT calling the Mayor of Leicester a dictator I think they've signed away all their rights to bus lanes and a deregulation of numbers

What would you call him then?

What would you call him then?

well the locals generally like him thats why they vote for him !

they might take a dislike to him if they cant get a taxi over xmas and new year

What would you call him then?

Someone who's got bollox. Why are they against a points system, have they got something to hide?

You've only got to look at the standard of drivers who were on the local news yesterday, there wasn't one Englishman there, plenty of Nigerians but no Englishmen.

Nigerians in Leicester???
You think the Mayor is right to stop taxis from using bus lanes etc. Just because they use their democratic right to demonstrate against the points system.