Taxi Driver Online

Controversial Uber taxi app granted licence for Glasgow but cabs federation calls for regulation


THE Scottish Government should legislate to ensure that Uber, the new taxi smart phone app launched in Glasgow yesterday, is fully accountable, according to the organisation representing taxi companies in Scotland.

Uber, which won a high court battle on Thursday, allowing it to operate legally in London launched its first Scottish service at 16:00 yesterday, after Glasgow City Council granted the firm a one-year licence.

The controversial company, which already operates in cities across the world has attracted widespread criticism; it has been banned in Rio de Janeiro and its licence was temporarily revoked in New Delhi after a woman claimed she had been raped by a driver. It has also been subject to criminal investigations in France and the Netherlands.

In the UK capital, Transport for London (TfL) had questioned whether the smartphone app breaks the law by operating in the same way as meters used by more strictly regulated black cabs to calculate fares.

Bill McIntosh, general secretary of the Scottish Taxi Federation, said the court decision was disappointing and raised continuing concerns about Uber’s operations.

“Our main area of concern is not the competition,” he added. “We are confident that we are in a good position to survive that. But we believe that the public are actually losing out if you look more closely at Uber’s operations in other countries.

“We have been working on the need for legislation for the last three years, but unfortunately the government has not taken this issue seriously enough.

“All we are asking for is to operate on a level playing field. We need to have a booking office under legislation and that makes us accountable. We keep records of every single hire. We believe that the government needs to legislate to make sure these tech companies are also as accountable as they need to be.”

However Uber insisted that its service was safe and reliable, claiming that all of its drivers had to pass enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. The company already operates in a number of UK cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield, as well as London.

Max Lines, Uber’s UK general manager, said: “We’re a private hire operator and we only use private hire drivers and private hire vehicles so all the drivers are going to be background checked.

“From a customer perspective, customers love it and drivers love it, we’ve seen huge growth. What we’re bringing to them is a system that is very safe and very efficient and what we see is drivers actually earning good money because the system means that they are very well utilised.”

However he acknowledged that the Uber model had not been popular with some local taxi firms.

“We’re coming into markets that maybe haven’t seen innovation for quite a long time and that to me is the disruption,” he added.

The downloadable app requires passengers to register before they are able to book a taxi. When it has been booked, the driver’s photo, name and car registration will appear on the app, along with real-time information about the car’s location, and notification on arrival.

Uber is hoping to start a service in Edinburgh in the near future.

source: http://www.thenational.scot/news/contro ... ation.8849

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

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IDFIMH

As far as Scotland is concerned nothing could be further from the truth.
We are the land where innovation was invented.
We are also a land steeped in social conscience and moral responsibility.
Hence the disillusionment with the traditional main political parties at Westminster and the reason why Scotland now has more Pandas than Labour, Liberal or Conservitive MP's. We were also happy to send Nigel Farage packing with a flea in his ear.

The only area the Scottish taxi trade fall behind in is having access to financial resources to afford expensive marketing campaigns or short term discount strategies. I would ask anyone to research App Companies in Cities where they have successfully gained a market share and note how their existing terms and conditions have changed since they first launched. See the link below.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JXt0lG3IRZQ

Perhaps the local taxi firms in Scotland should be viewing setting up Offshore I Clouds* to free up some revenue to help compete on a level playing field. It would be akin to the local coffee shop setting up an offshore bank account to compete with Starbucks. That's the sort of innovation we don't need or want.

We may all be suckered into believing a new dawn has arrived in taxi services but where are the tax free profits heading that come from operating through an off shore business. Certainly not back into the local community to help pay for schools and hospitals.

I would rather build a hospital or school than see the money go towards the venture capitalists third yacht.

* The term "I Cloud" or any variation of this term such as "Ghost I Cloud", "Phanthom I Cloud" or "Third Generation I Cloud" basically means operating through an offshore server.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domicile_(law)

Seriously Sussex, all we ask is a level playing field

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Alway's been about Tightening the Grip!

It's all well and good individual companies having an App but that just gives current customers another way to get in touch with them. Once the customer leaves the area of that particular company they can no longer use their App. Should customers have to download Apps for every area or just use an App available nationwide? As a customer I know what I would prefer

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

Hi tootsie... I have said for years ...that one day there will be a company that you will be able to ring from anywhere in the country....when technology permits....guess what...It's no good being a Canute, ....I don't mean you...

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Tribalism has always been factor in the taxi business. Many barriers are coming down in and around the London area where old differences are being put to one side to try and meet the new challenges. Cutting costs and creating larger areas to operate and provide a service.

When people start working together for a common cause sometimes they end up wondering why they hadn't done it years ago. It often takes a jolt to the system to get individuals to come out of their comfort zone and face new challenges.

Our customers are simply not interested in the politics of the taxi trade or how the end service is achieved. For many years the taxi industry has existed in a vacuum protected through restrictions and regulations. These restrictions and regulations are primarily there to protect the public but it has made some of our trade take our customers for granted.
This vacuum, through advances in technology, is gradually disappearing. The ones that will survive will be the ones who leave this vacuum willingly and have a belief in the level and quality of the service they are providing. The ones who dig their heels in and try and remain in the vacuum will struggle.

Whatever the future holds regarding new ways of how to book a taxi the taxi industry should be prepared to embrace new technology and go wherever that takes us and when someone is looking for a taxi service we continue to make ourselves the first choice.

What Les says in paragraph 2 is very true, that customers really don't care how the end result is achieved. I know this by the business I am in, private hire cars and vintage buses for weddings.

Just yesterday a call from a prospective customer, water a 9 seat taxi to go to Canterbury. I don't have a 9 seat minibus and told him there's no 9 seat taxis, they don't exist. Any minibus form would need more than an hour's notice, instead he got company x down the road to take 9 in an 8 seat p/h car!

People often phone me for a bus for a wedding. I give a price. But company y is far cheaper, but then I know his bus hasn't got a psv ticket, no O licence and the driver probably doesn't have a psv licence or driver cpc therefore no insurance, but they still book with him!

When our own house is perfectly in order in all ways, then we have the right to criticise the likes of Uber. And no, I don't support what they're doing in any way, shape or form.

Edited to add the local lad who's disabled, got a notability car and is advertising on his Facebook page that he's running a taxi business with that free car for his mates!! No licence, insurance etc. Is anyone interested? Of course not.

Where will Uber pay it's Taxes.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Possibly the same place as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Starbucks are rumoured to use...through their head office in some faraway Tax haven with a nominal amount paid to the UK government just to keep the peace and divert the fllak.

Report in Sunday Telegraph.

Uber moved into the black in the UK for the first time, posting a pre tax profit of £900,000.
It paid corporation tax of £22,000 no vat paid on turnover of £11.3 Million.

Says also that uber take up to 30% of each fare.

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Former taxi driver

Corporation tax is 20% so they paid tax on £110,000 profit.

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Grandad,

Alex Salmond Says He’ll Never Use Uber As It Launches In Glasgow

The former first minister told BuzzFeed News he’s “greatly sceptical” of the service, which launched in Scotland this week.

Alex Salmond has said he is “greatly sceptical” of Uber and will never use the service, which launched in Glasgow on Friday.

The former first minister of Scotland said the online taxi service is unfair on traditional cab drivers and that he has “no intention” of ever using it in Glasgow or London, where he now works as an MP.

“I’m greatly sceptical of Uber,” the former SNP leader told BuzzFeed News. “I haven’t used it in London and I wouldn’t use it in Glasgow, I don’t think it’s a level playing field for people with obligations in the cabs.”

Salmond advised all London mayoral candidates to run on an anti-Uber ticket to galvanise support among cab drivers, and said he would feel “bereft” without his daily conversations with London cabbies.

“If I was a candidate for London mayor, I would gather the 30,000 taxi drivers together and, on camera, say this was my approach to this issue. They’ve been heavily done down.

“That doesn’t mean restrictive practices from cabs are perfect, it just means there’s an unfair playing fields between Uber and cabs.”

A spokesperson for Uber said “thousands” of people are already using Uber in Glasgow, and it will bring the service to more Scottish cities in the future.

“In the UK Uber is fully licensed and regulated and abides by all private hire legislation,” said the spokesperson. “Uber’s model has been scrutinised by over 30 regulators and found to be compliant.

“We only launched in Glasgow yesterday and thousands of people are already choosing Uber. We are looking forward to bringing our service to other parts of Scotland in due course.”

source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamieross/alex- ... .gwmMKZDxA

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

Obviously his English counterparts are too busy taking backhanders

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

Which licensing conditions that apply to the local PH trade don't apply to the local Uber operator?

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IDFIMH