Understanding Uber…and the rest!

 

Understanding Uber…and the rest!

 

It should be obvious why “Taxi” regulation is important, passengers are often in a vulnerable position and could be at risk from poorly maintained or uninsured vehicles or from drivers who are either poor drivers or worse. We have a high standard of drivers in Kirklees and want to keep it that way.

 

 

Uber in the UK is not the problem, they have highlighted the problem, and they are subject to the

same regulations as everyone else. The problem is that “Taxi” regulation has not kept up with technology and the changes made recently by central government make efficient safe regulation impossible.

Local Authorities issue four different licences aimed at regulating the “Taxi” trade. (Technically the word Taxi should only apply to Hackney Cabs and not to private hire, but few members of the public know the difference)

1. The Driver Licence
2. A Hackney Licence – for the car
3. A Private Hire Licence – for the car
4. An Operator’s Licence

Each licensing authority sets its own rules as to what it expects from drivers, vehicles and operators, these regulations vary across the country and the level of enforcement varies. Recent changes allow drivers to operate anywhere in the country, irrespective of where the licence is issued, which has weakened or in many cases eliminated enforcement. (For clarity; the recent changes allow Private Hire Operators to sub contract jobs to other operators including those outside their licensed area, Hackney carriages have always been able to work in another authority so long as they only undertake pre-booked journeys)

Partially due to the technology operated by Uber and partially the change to regulation that allow Hackney Cabs to operate as Private Hire anywhere in the country has effectively removed vehicle regulation for many vehicles. Local authority enforcement officers do not have the power to check drivers and vehicles not issued by their authority.

The Driver Licence

Each Local authority sets the standards it applies in issuing licences to drive “Taxis”. They can require DBS CIB checks, a clean licence, a language test, a “knowledge” test, an enhanced driving test or anything else they feel is needed in their area. They can also require drivers to take part in training sessions on such issues as disability awareness or equality awareness. Regulations as to dress may be applied and commonly the wearing of an ID badge is a requirement set out in the legislation.

Drivers are in many authorities obliged to inform the authority of any driving convictions and may be called in to explain why they should keep their licence if they get for example more than 6 points. Drivers may also be questioned as a result of complaints from the police or public.

We in Kirklees require drivers to have a special exemption certificate to refuse to carry assistance dogs, (only one has been issued).

The time taken to be issued a licence can vary greatly, presently it takes 6 months to get a licence in Leeds but only one month in Liverpool (Kirklees is about three months). A driver who is refused or loses a licence in Kirklees may apply in Penzance and be issued a licence to work in Kirklees.

This also causes an enforcement problem. Kirklees Officers do not have the powers to enforce Penzance rules in Kirklees and the driver is not subject to Kirklees rules.

York recently experienced a car registered in Bradford, driven by a driver licenced by Transport for London operating daily in York.

The Hackney Licence

A Hackney licence is licence to “Ply for Hire” that is to operate from a rank or pick up from anywhere. A Hackney cab does not have to be pre-booked. Each authority can decide what cars can operate and what the livery should be, colour and markings. What licences and information should be displayed, what metering should be used and what the fair scale is. Authorities can also decide how old vehicles can operate and any other safety issues. Kirklees ban tinted windows for both Hackney and Private Hire on the grounds of passenger safety, some authorities are insisting on cctv in their cabs. Some authorities are considering banning diesel vehicles and many set air quality standards.

A big difference between Hackney and Private Hire is that authorities are allowed to limit the number of Hackney plates they issue. (If they carry out an unmet demand survey) The purpose of this was originally to protect the trade from over supply, to make the trade more stable, an unfortunate consequence of this was to create a “market” in plates. In some areas plates can cost up to £40,000. Owners rarely surrender plates they just sell them on. Some areas such as Rosendale, a small Lancashire authority can choose not to set limits and issue many licences to cars that never operate in Rosendale.

The change in regulations allows cars registered in one authority as Hackney Cabs to work in any other authority as Private Hire, this allows drivers to avoid effective control over condition, age and signage, allowing unmarked cars to act as private hire vehicles, with the obvious dangers this creates. We had a long battle with the trade in Kirklees to ban magnetic door signs for this reason.   

Private Hire

A Private Hire journey must be pre-booked through an operator; they cannot use Taxi Ranks or pick up from the street, unless booked. The fair is not regulated and meters are not compulsory. Local authorities can define the livery, age and type of vehicle and can check and test vehicles at any time, but only if registered in their own area, hence the problem. In the past there would be no point in ringing a London Taxi firm to book a cab in Kirklees, but the Uber App books you the nearest Uber car, irrespective of where it is licenced, so Kirklees registered drivers can take their Kirklees registered cabs to wherever the profit is, be that Leeds, London or St. Ives. Once out of Kirklees they are away from our enforcement officers.

Operator’s Licence

As explained above, all private hire vehicles must be booked through an operator. An Operator’s licence may cover one car (such as the sole operator on my street operating an Airport shuttle) to the 40,000 cars operated in London by Uber. The operator is supposed to check that the drivers it operates, and these are usually self-employed, are licensed, that the cars are licenced and insured. They are also supposed to keep a record of all journeys, when booked, be whom, who the allocated driver is and where the pick-up is. Uber with their App have this to a tee, as have all the operators who use computer bookings systems, not all have booking systems though our officers say it is not a problem.

The recent court case as to whether drivers are employed, or self-employed concerning UBER probably applies to 99% of drivers, very few operators employ drivers or own cars, drivers pay them a fee for the booking and can get very different levels of support for the fee.

Quick fixes

Locally we are trying to rationalise regulations across West Yorkshire, we are empowering officers to regulate each other’s drivers and vehicles and we are sharing information. This does not protect us from cars or drivers from outside the area.

Government regulation

What is needed is a review of the regulations a few small changes could make a big difference.

1. A national Driver Data Base that records convictions and all disciplinary actions against drivers, that is available to all licensing authorities and enforcement officers. It essentially should include a photograph.
2. All Private Hire Journeys should be required to be booked from an operator registered in the area of either the pick-up or drop-off point of the journey.
3. Hackney Cabs should not be able to operate outside of the area they are registered in as private hire vehicles.
4. All authorities should be given the powers to check any driver or vehicle operating in their area.
5. The introduction of a National convictions policy, so that all areas are working to the same standard.

Conclusion

The current system is not working and is putting passengers at risk. The vast majority of drivers operate well maintained vehicles safely. Many people, particularly non car owners are reliant on what in the majority of cases is a cheap efficient system. We cannot afford to let the system fall into disrepute as a result of poor regulations.