Uber seeks truce with London taxi drivers by scrapping fees Uber has scrapped commission fees for London's black cab drivers in an attempt to show the two can live together peacefully.
The ride-hailing app said it would waive the 5 per cent commission it usually charges taxi drivers to use its service to find potential passengers.
Although the cheaper UberX rides - the most common transport option on the app - are licensed minicabs, Uber also allows people to hail taxis using its app. Taxi drivers - in contrast to minicabs - are subject to rules on pricing, must pass The Knowledge, a test of London's geography, and their vehicles can be hailed in the street.
The arrival of Uber, which has made it cheaper and more convenient to order a minicab in London, threatens the capital's traditional black cab drivers. Taxis have repeatedly protested against Uber and an apparent reluctance by Transport for London to crack down on the app. The taxi industry body has even taken legal action.
Few taxi drivers actually use the app. Black cabs are far less common on the app than other Uber services. Taxi drivers using Uber paid a 5 per cent fee to the company before Uber said it would remove the fees on Tuesday for a driver's first year.
"For Londoners it means they can order a traditional black cab at the push of a button and pay electronically through their phone, rather than worrying about cash. And for taxi drivers it’s a chance to get a fare when there are no passengers on the street or they’re waiting in a long queue at a rank," Uber's UK head Jo Bertram said.
She said that restrictions on taxi drivers should be lifted by changing The Knowledge and allowing more flexibility on fares. "The answer to the very real pressures faced by black cabs is, surely, to reduce their costs rather than limiting passenger choice by imposing bureaucratic new rules on apps.
"While both black cab and licensed Uber drivers go through exactly the same background checks, taxi drivers have additional hoops they have to jump through. The Knowledge, for instance, is rightly legendary. But it means memorising 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks - a skill that can take up to four years to master. In the age of GPS and live traffic apps, is such an onerous test still needed?"
The London Taxi Drivers Association said it would be "amazed if any drivers decide to take up Uber's offer".
"The response is 'thanks but no thanks'," it said.
Thousands of taxi drivers are expected to protest outside parliament on Wednesday.
TfL recently scrapped proposals that Uber said threatened its future in London, including a minimum five-minute wait time in between booking and beginning rides, and a requirement that journeys can be booked a week in advance.
source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2 ... ping-fees/
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