Taxi Driver Online

Row over taxi loophole

A TAXI driver has hit out at a legal loophole which allows operators to bring in drivers licensed outside Worcester to pick up city fares. However, a city entrepreneur who runs Drive Taxi App Ltd says he is merely making use of a gap in the market and the latest technology to provide a valuable service to satisfied customers.

Worcester City Council says taxi operators like Drive Taxi App are not breaking any laws and are responding to deregulation which allows them to sub-contract bookings to drivers licensed outside the city. Previously, the law required drivers to return to the area in which they were licensed between jobs.

Ausman Shaukat, director of Drive Taxi App Ltd, says all of the drivers he uses live in Worcester even if some are licensed elsewhere, and says the change in the rules redresses a decades-long bias in favour of hackney carriages. The city council has said it will investigate any evidence that other rules and regulations have been breached by any operators working within Worcester.

Taxi driver Sakander Zaib has written a letter on behalf of 'the licensed taxi drivers of Worcester' to the city council, licensing officers and Worcestershire regulatory services, arguing that taxis licensed in Worcester are now facing 'a massive disadvantage' because of the rule change. He wrote: "Taxi drivers from outside the city were brought in very quickly and in large numbers.

"These customers who are constituents of Worcester city, are phoning a Worcester taxi company for a Worcester licensed taxi cab. However, they are being sent drivers from outside the city. "If the current situation continues then it will become financially unviable for us to operate. "In these circumstances, it is only reasonable for the council to change its taxi regulations especially regarding the age of hackney and private hire vehicles."

He added: "It is now your responsibility to investigate these concerns and take the necessary action."

Mr Shaukat said the company had received an 'overwhelmingly positive response' from the public. "The entire premise of the business model is fully in line with local and national regulations," he said. "It is also pertinent to add that 100 per cent of the drivers who work with Drive Taxi App Ltd live in Worcester city.

"Moreover, the company, since launch, has made charitable contributions to three separate charities in Worcestershire, and actively advertises local Worcester businesses. "Further to these points, the company has had, almost unanimously, very high praise from the public, licensing officials, councillors, the local MP and the mayor. "Numerous Worcester City Council licensed hackney and private hire drivers work very happily with the app and are benefitting from the efficient service and added flexibility offered.

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