Taxi Driver Online

A couple of pieces here; yesterday about the planned strike, and some broad detail about the fare stuff and commission rates, but the latter is all a bit unclear, and the claimed hike in the rentals paid by drivers appears to have gained £10 overnight

The words commission and rentals are both used, which to me suggest a %age thing or a fixed sum respectively (or Uber-style stuff versus a more conventional settle or fixed rental).

But considering that there aren't concrete sums stated, I'd guess the sums paid by drivers aren't actually fixed. And the mention of unfairness to part-time drivers maybe suggests there's a fixed and variable element to the charging - ie a fixed rental and a rate per job or fares added on

But it's really just Uber-style protests about rising commission and more complex fare structures for passengers.

(The £1 peak time surcharge on fares just looks like a crude form of surge-pricing.)

Except that it's Veezu


Veezu private-hire drivers in Telford plan 'strike' protest over fare and rates increases

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/loc ... increases/

Drivers working for private-hire firm Veezu are set to hold a protest this week over fare rises.

Up to 250 drivers in Telford are planning to take action as the "last resort" in an escalating row over raised fees and charges with parent firm Veezu.

The drivers claim a new regime of charges which kicked in at the beginning of this month will cost them at least £30 a week - as well as hiking fees for passengers.

The new charges mean school-run passengers are now paying an extra surcharge of £1 per journey during peak hours, while drivers pay a higher percentages of their fares to parent firm Veezu, as well as increased booking fees.

The drivers have called on the firm to rethink its policy - but they say their requests have been met with silence by bosses, who have asked them to use an online portal to submit their comments.

Now the group of disgruntled drivers in Telford say they're set to stage a protest in an effort to bring Veezu to the table, with drivers demanding face-to-face talks with the company.

Around 250 drivers have backed a letter to the firm shared with the Shropshire Star this week, calling the new charges "unfair", and asking for drivers views to be heard.

"Your incremental commission charges are unfair for drivers who work for Veezu part-time, and also for existing drivers who are currently charged 18 per cent commission. Your cap has also increased which drivers feel is unfair, especially when costs are rising everywhere," they wrote.

"We feel these changes are not warranted and strongly oppose them.

"We ask that you take our views into consideration and we are disappointed that you are not allowing for any discussions face to face. We understand that businesses have large overheads such as call centre staff.

"Veezu, as a large organisation, can always absorb these costs better than drivers can."

Veezu was formerly known as Go Carz in Telford, Shrewsbury and the West Midlands, before a rebrand to Veezu last year. National firm Veezu took over Go Carz in 2020, and has around 1,700 drivers across the region.

Veezu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday afternoon (September .

(The word Watch in the headline here seems to be saying there's some sort of video of the protest, but I can't see anything, although my browser sometimes has difficutly loading some of these websites, and also my connnection is often very slow at this time, so may have just failed to load it - it sometimes just seems to give up )


Watch: Telford taxi drivers in go-slow 'strike' protest over higher fees at Veezu

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/loc ... -at-veezu/


Image: Shropshire Star

Taxis were in short supply in Telford this morning after a group of private hire drivers working for Veezu staged a protest outside the firm's offices in Telford and Shrewsbury.

A group of 200-250 drivers in Telford are unhappy about new fees which have been imposed by Veezu, which add a surcharge of £1 to peak time journeys and also result in higher fees for drivers. The organisers of today's protest say that will add up to £40 to costs for each driver per week.

The drivers have called on the firm to rethink its policy and reverse the new charging scheme - but they say their requests have been met with silence by bosses, who have asked them to use an online portal to submit their comments, and declined their request for a face-to-face meeting.

A group of Veezu drivers gathered in Madeley at around 7.30am today (September 9), before heading in a slow convoy to meet up with other drivers to hold a protest at the firm's Telford office in Ketley.

The combined group of around 100 drivers then headed to Shrewsbury to try and seek an audience with the firm's management.

"Veezu have increased their rates from every angle, they're charging drivers more and they're going to end up paying around £30 to £40 more in rent per week, plus we're charging customers more as a surcharge and they seem to be stinging people from every angle," said Mr Khan, a spokesperson for the drivers.

"We've asked for a meeting with Veezu management but they're refusing to have any meetings. All these drivers are taking time off work to take part in a strike, and that's how strongly we feel about it. We're self-employed, we're all losing money by being here - that's how strongly we feel about it.

"It's very hard to get the attention of management, and the local driver managers are limited in what they can do. The main decision makers in London and Cardiff, they're numbers people really and they don't really care about the interests of the drivers as long as the revenues are increasing."

Veezu has been contacted for comment.

How many firms have veezu bought ? i am guessing that this means a multi million pound debt mountain so clearly they are looking to generate more money from their serfs sorry I meant driver partners

Like the uber protests they will fall on deaf ears as long as the serfs continue to work for them

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

Nothing fundamentally new in the BBC's report, but it's interesting with regard to Veezu's predictably PR-dominated response

I mean, what has all this got to do with the changes are related to Veezu's commitment to a 'safe and efficent' booking service?

Then, of course, the 'driver partners' blather, 'valued' relationships, 'small number of driver partners', feedback being reviewed



Taxi drivers protest over raised fees

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3qz71e5p4o

About 100 Telford taxi drivers have protested, after they said the rent they pay to a private hire company increased without consultation.

The drivers, who are self-employed driver partners of Veezu, gathered outside the firm's headquarters in Shrewsbury on Tuesday.

They claimed fees had increased by about £40 per week, and fares were going up for passengers.

Veezu said it was aware of the concerns and feedback was being reviewed, adding that the changes reflected its commitment to providing a safe and efficient booking service for driver partners and passengers in Telford and Shrewsbury.

"They emailed us saying that the rent's going to go up… we sent them a formal complaint and asked to hold a meeting but they've refused to engage with us," said Saf Khan, a driver and one of the protest's organisers.

"We don't want to be charged excessive fees for rent, and we don't want passengers to suffer as well.

"We want a fair fare for passengers and we want drivers to be treated fair as well."

"Drivers are spending more time behind the steering wheel to earn more money for their kids and their families," said driver Abdul Rehman.

He said drivers doing fewer journeys still had to pay more rent, which he believed was a "penalty" to those working part-time or at the weekend.

"It's too much for us," added Michael Adofo.

"We pay more money - I pay around £200 every week from what I do."

Mr Khan added: "It's a massive company, I don't think they have time for us small drivers - we're just seen as another number."

A spokesperson for the company said: "We value the relationships we have built with self-employed driver-partners.

"We recognise that a small number of drivers-partners have raised concerns about recent changes, and this feedback is being reviewed."

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