Uber licence granted despite taxi firm objectionshttp://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/1617 ... bjections/A leading taxi drivers’ union has hit out at a decision to award Uber a new booking office licence.
Unite the Union chief Calum Anderson has claimed he’ll take the matter to the ombudsman.
It comes after licensing chiefs refused to hear late objections by Unite, Glasgow Taxis and the Greater Glasgow Private Hire Association yesterday.
They claimed that Uber’s bookings would go through their office in Holland and not Glasgow – something which the company denied.
Councillors then granted Uber a licence for its new Buchanan Street premises after the app-based firm was forced to move from its West George Street premises due to renovation work.
Kieran Harte, Head of Cities, Uber Scotland: “We welcome today’s decision and look forward to continuing to grow the business in Glasgow for the many drivers and passengers that use the app.”
Unite the Union’s Glasgow cab section chairman, Mr Anderson hit out at the decision.
He said: “Uber simply don’t meet the criteria for a base licence.
“We have to ask the question why the committee chose not to follow the licensing laws.
“I think we’ll be going on to the ombudsman to look at the way the council has acted on this.
“They seem to have a scant disregard for the Civic Government Scotland Act which is what we all have to adhere to except for Uber.”
The objection from Unite that would have went in front of councillors, had they chosen to hear it, also claimed that Uber’s application didn’t satisfy the criteria of the Act.
The Act states that the use of premises is for “the carrying on of a business which consists to any extent of the taking of bookings, by any means of communication, from members of the public for the hire of a relevant vehicle”.
But in their objection, Unite said: “Uber Scot Ltd as we understand it will not accept, decline and/or dispatch bookings requested by Uber customers in Glasgow.
“When an Uber customer in Glasgow requests a ride through the Uber app, this request is received by Uber BV, registered at Meester Treublaan 7, 1097 DP Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“The request is then sent direct to drivers in Glasgow and contrary to legislation, it is a private hire driver using the Uber drivers’ app, who accepts or declines a ride request.
Virtually all taxi and private hire companies across Scotland offer customers the choice to book using app technology.
“The crucial difference is that these companies are taking bookings through a licensed booking office. Uber BV, which takes customer requests from Glasgow via the Netherlands, is not licensed by Glasgow City Council to dispatch work to private hire cars in Glasgow.
“The precedent set has potentially serious ramifications for the entire fabric of the taxi and private hire licensing regime and by extrapolation, public safety.
“Bookings can be taken from virtually anywhere, and companies can engage in sham booking offices to ‘tick a box’ for the Local Authority.
“The benefit of this malpractice at least in terms of tax liability is evident.”
Uber has denied those allegations, and a company source said: “That is not correct. All Glasgow bookings are accepted and dispatched under our local Glasgow licence.”
Last month plans for a temporary booking office were rejected by the licensing committee amid concerns over the management and the firm’s complaints procedures.
Those concerns were again raised with Councillor Rhiannon Spear particularly concerned about how Uber drivers are allocated fares.
Despite councillors choosing to grant the application, Ms Spear registered her dissent at the decision.
She also called for councillors to hear the three objections but was outvoted.
Ms Spear said: “As my voting record showed I was incredibly disappointed by the decision of the committee to refuse to hear representation from Glasgow Taxis, Unite the Union or Greater Glasgow Private Hire Association.
“I dissented this morning after my motion for continuation for further information was not held.
“I was not personally satisfied by the answers that Uber provided and would have liked further information.”
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