Taxi Driver Online

Not much concrete information here. The 25% headline figure is immediately contradicted in the first sentence of the article.

And fare 'rises' or 'hikes' are obviously a bit nebulous and difficult to quantify if the price surges when there's a supply/demand mismatch.

And not entirely clear if this just applies to London and nearby.

The only concrete figure is that Uber's 'flagfall' will go up from £5.00 to £5.50, which is presumably where the 10% figure comes from


Uber taxis to hike its prices by up to 25 per cent from tomorrow across London

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/breaking ... s-25428522

The cab hire app says it is raising prices to try to encourage more drivers on board, with many Londoners currently struggling to get cabs due to a shortage of drivers and soaring demand

Taxi hire app Uber will hike its prices tomorrow by 10 per cent to try to get more drivers signed up.

The price rise will affect London, and peak time fares for Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted airports could go up by 25 per cent, Uber drivers have been told.

The minimum fare will go up 50p to £5.50.

An Uber spokesperson said: "We’re making these changes to help provide a better rider experience, by signing up more drivers to meet the growing demand.

"We know people rely on Uber to book a safe trip around London and this small fare increase will help reduce wait times. As always riders will get a fare estimate before booking their journey.”

Uber last raised its prices in 2017.

Many cab hire firms have been struggling with a lack of drivers. Many former taxi drivers gave up during the pandemic, with many returning to their home countries or finding other work.

A source close to Uber indicated that it had a similar number of drivers as before the pandemic, but that it had seen a surge in demand from customers.

This driver shortage has meant an increase in 'surge pricing'.

During very busy periods Uber can raise its normal tariffs by 1.8x.

The lack of Uber operators also means an increase in cancelled trips and overall longer wait times for taxis.

Part of the problem is also that taxi drivers are increasingly on several different apps, not just Uber.

Uber is currently among the cheapest cab app for customers, meaning drivers have an incentive to cancel Uber bookings if they get a better offer from a fare on another app.

Uber takes a cut of 25% of fares.

In September Uber drivers planned a 24-hour strike in major cities across the UK to protest over poor pay and conditions.

The demonstrations were planned for London, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union organised the strike, claiming workers are being unfairly dismissed and that the company failed to implement a court ruling to pay waiting time.

Uber insisted it was working with unions to raise standards for drivers.

In February The Mirror reported Uber paid no UK corporation tax, despite a £14million jump in its turnover.

The US giant was able to use a shares windfall for staff to wipe out its tax bill here.

Well done to every driver who is playing the apps companies.

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IDFIMH