IN THE NEWS
MEDWAY FIRM SAYS UBER PRICE HIKES MEANS MORE CUSTOMERS AS THEY BATTLE TO FIND DRIVERS
News that rival operator Uber has been forced to hike its fares should be wel- comed by the boss of Medway’s biggest taxi firm, Vokes Taxis. With customers shunning the app company, which was forced to increase charges by 20%, Vokes should have been look- ing forward to a boost in trade. Kent Online reports that instead it has left co-owner Mark Robinson with a raft of problems which have impacted staff and the overall business. Firstly, during lockdown self-employed drivers left in droves to take up other jobs. Others took retirement, further depleting his workforce. In turn, dissat- isfied clients battling to get a cab turned on his workers and on occasion, hurled abuse at them. The company gets an average 2,000
calls a day, but is having to turn down 400 of them due to a lack of drivers. Mr Robinson said: “We are having a real problem recruiting drivers, some of whom have since taken delivery work.” Uber fares rose sharply in March after a High Court ruling that VAT should be charged within the fare. Mr Robinson said: “Some who said they would never leave Uber have returned to us. In some cases a fare which would have been £10 is now £30.” Uber drivers licensed by TfL, swamped Medway more than three years ago. Medway Towns’ cabbies have to under- go intensive training from the council before getting their licence. He added: “We have had reports of up to 1,000 Uber drivers operating here because they say Medway is part of
London, which is clearly not right.” Mr Robinson said: “The training is tough and takes about a year. I think it should be made easier. I understand the safeguarding and passenger safety issues are important, but I don’t think it’s necessary for a driver to know every street name in the Medway Towns.” He said his company had invested about £250,000 in technology with an app to tell drivers where they are going and the best route which is particularly relevant with the number of new hous- ing developments in the area. Mr Robinson said: “Before the pandemic we had 750 drivers across all firms in Medway and two years before that around 900. Now we have 500. We are quite well off with 150 at Vokes, but we still need about 30 more.”
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