A major issue here is that we see cars without any rear plates or door signs, obviously working for Uber, completely unidentifiable with obvious clues such as no smoking stickers in the window. It is categorically the wild west in the streets and repeated throughout the country! It’s like a time warp before the LGMPA 1976 allowed local authorities to control the unlicensed PH drivers and cars.
Magnetic council identification door livery signs are clearly a public safety issue that can be removed as demonstrated,
and consequently used on non-
licensed cars for criminal activity, and the sooner licensing authorities cotton onto this the better! Ironically, those drivers that were warned were told that any future complaint about missing door signs would result in having to have permanent sticker type ones. Hey Portsmouth! How about just banning magnetic door signs then time will not be taken up with ensuring that Portsmouth phv driver comply with vehicle licensing conditions!
Horsham
On 2 February 2026, Horsham DC Licensing Com- mittee suspended a licensed private hire operator for two weeks for breaking the triple lock subcontracting rules. This was about a Horsham operator using a PH driver/vehicle for which it did not hold an operator licence. There was no other information on this as Horsham council decided to hide the details from the public. So, I did an FOI request for the details of the operator. Horsham council wrote back: “We hold information in relation to these contracts. However, we are withholding it in accordance with the exemption at Section 43(2) of the FOI Act regarding commercial confidentiality. Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity). This is a qualified exemption and is subject to the public interest test. We therefore have to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure”
There was further blah, blah, blah….What a load of rollox!
It is unequivocally in the public interest to be fully aware of what operator/cab company decided to blatantly break the law and I will be following this up with a cunning plan to force Horsham to reveal the full details. Should that fail then I will take it further with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
PHTM APRIL 2026
I usually use Uber
I did an office job (Streamline) via our app to go around about 1.5miles, which on the meter would be about £8. Picked up the lady, had a nice chat and then came the dreaded words: “I normally use Uber”. So, with gritted teeth I politely said: “OK, what made you use Streamline this time”. She replied: “The Uber app price was £25” and continued: “When the price is too high I use you”.
I get this so often and I gave my usual response by slamming on the brakes, and shouted: “GET OUT!” Or rather that is what I wanted to do, but of course being fit and proper, I just carried on with the conversation being pleasantly polite, saying: “Well, if customers only use us when Uber is surge pricing then eventually you won’t have the choice because Uber is determ- ined to wipe the local companies out” This did sink in and she concurred with that and then also told me that she had a couple of experiences with Uber drivers not looking like their photos. I explained that the chances of getting a Brighton and Hove PH driver/vehicle with local council-controlled CCTV on Uber was probably around a five-to-one chance. I further explained that Uber uses drivers from other areas that our licensing department has no control over. I think that it sank in, just as the meter clicked over to £8.
At the time of writing this, having got home around 2am, I had been sitting on the rank at Hove station, waiting for the last commuters to arrive, with several out-of-town cars appearing and also waiting for them. I saw a young couple across the road doing the usual of looking at a phone. They now walk over to me and half get in the car asking: “How much to Holland Road?” I reply: “Around £8 on the meter.” She says: “Uber is showing £6”. This is the gritted teeth situation again, so I say: “Get Uber then”. But they get in anyway and she says: “I thought it was all Uber”. What went through my mind could not be printed so I simply and calmly said: “No”.
I was spot on with the £8 and all was good and they thanked me as I got out. But if Uber was only showing £6 then what was the driver getting? At a minimum 20% commission that would be just £4.80, and this was just after midnight. Well, good luck to them if they are willing to slave away at twenty-year-old fares because whilst I have no doubt that Uber drivers make a good living, there must be so much more wear and tear with all the extra miles needed to make up low priced fares.
Am I right or wrong here? 67
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
