Taxi Driver Online

New taxi service dubbed 'Indian Uber' heading to Wolverhampton

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/tra ... erhampton/

Taxi drivers in the city are already locked in a long-standing row with Wolverhampton Council over its cheap licences

An Indian ride-sharing giant has been given a licence to operate in Wolverhampton in a move that threatens to spark a fresh row with frustrated taxi drivers in the city.

Ola, which has been dubbed the Indian Uber, has been given the nod to launch in the city.

Furious taxi firms have already hit out at council bosses over cheap licences which have led to drivers flooding to the city.

City council bosses said the company had met conditions for acquiring a licence but there are fears the move could lead to yet more taxis heading into the city centre, impacting on local firms.

Ola works similarly to Uber, in that customers hail cabs through an app on their phones.

The company was founded in 2010 and is considered to be one of the main rivals to Uber.

A Wolverhampton Council spokesman said: “The chair of licensing committee and the Licensing Manger met with OLA and stipulated the standards and requirements that City of Wolverhampton Council expects of its licensed operators.

“Ola submitted an application for a private hire operator’s licence which was considered in accordance with our guidelines and the application was subsequently granted for an initial one-year period.”

Steven Toy, a driver with Chase Cars and former chairman of the Private Hire Association, said: “It could lead to an increase in competition in the market and if Ola function anything like Uber it won’t necessarily just be Wolverhampton they are working in but also elsewhere in the West Midlands conurbation.

“The competition could also drive down fares and mean drivers working even longer hours.”

It follows concerns from Staffordshire County Council that Wolverhampton’s lax policy on taxi licences could potentially be putting passengers at risk.

Licence applications in the city have soared by more than 10 times to 9,000 due to lower charges.

Ola launched its first overseas operation earlier this year when it hit the streets of Perth, Australia, with further plans to launch in Sydney and also Melbourne.

It then launched its first UK service in South Wales last month and is also trying to obtain a licence to operate in Greater Manchester.

Wolverhampton's reputation as a flag of convenience is spreading

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

If Ola and Uber go for each other then fares will plummet.

Really not good for drivers, punters in the short term will benefit, but it will cause trade hardship.

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IDFIMH

well in LA I think it is that uber drivers get 99 cents that's about 76 pence per mile

Unfortunately this is par for the course as in this trade nearly everybody thinks it's clever to be the cheapest

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

According to another source ola will also use black cabs.This will really put prices down cos there is plenty of idiots who will join up.London not but,everywhere else they will sign up.When uber was starting up in Sheffield some cabbies were getting excited thinking they were going to take black cabs on .Thank god I haven't got long before retirement!

It's worth noting that Uber also use hackneys.

Usually from unrestricted areas, working in restricted area.

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IDFIMH

Or drivers will get a bigger cut. If drivers start leaving Uber they might cut the amount they take, likewise Ola might give a bigger share as it tries to take drivers from Uber.
Maybe even, if they cut the fares too much drivers will leave both companies and move back to traditional firms.

Either way drivers will go for the firm that they make the most money from. Actually, they could sign up and work for both at the same time ?

That's how we will be working in 10 years time.

Drivers working with Uber and Ola in India is the norm.

Drivers working with Uber and Lyft in the USA is the norm.

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IDFIMH

Lets be honest the majority of drivers licenced with Wolverhampton don't work there really

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

But the money help fund the council.

To the detriment of many other licensing offices.

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IDFIMH

The law states it should be a 5 year licence.

They are not allowed to use hackneys in gods little allotment.

explain please

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I think the law allows for a shorter period of licence though

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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 law does allow in the circumstances of an individual case, not because of a blanket policy. As Ola is a company and not an individual they are not allowed a shorter period.

Subsection (3) changes the law in such a way as to establish a standard duration of five years for a private hire vehicle operator licence. The section specifies that a licence may be granted for a period of less than five years but only in the circumstances of an individual case, not because of a blanket policy.