CAPITAL NEWS
BLACK CAB DRIVERS ARE ‘FADING INTO OBSCURITY’ BECAUSE THEY REFUSE TO TAKE CARD PAYMENTS’
Londoners have been left frustrated by black cab drivers who refuse to take card payments and say that this is forc- ing them to use services such as Uber. My London reports that traditional cab drivers have suffered during the pan- demic and say that companies such as Uber and Bolt are “flooding the market”. But some Londoners say it is in fact the lack of acceptance of card payments that has pushed people away. The com- ments came after one upset Londoner went to the rank at Waterloo station and saw 20 cars queuing for customers. When he asked if any took cards he
was told “no, only cash”. Without cash he decided to get an Uber. The man took to Reddit and said: “I thought all cabs need to take them. Driver says ‘all cabs need to support the option of using a card but we don’t have to take them’. Utter joke. Walked to front of station and got an Uber.” Other Londoners and tourists then weighed in to say they had experi- enced similar problems. With the decline in the use of the traditional taxi, Londoners said drivers weren’t doing enough to “help themselves”, despite regulation saying that they “must take
card payments”. One man agreed that Uber and other app based minicabs were becoming “easier” and a more “viable option of travel across London”. He said: “Black cab drivers as a profession seem to do everything possible to ensure their own slow fade into obscurity.” Many black cabs do take cards and some even have card machines built into the interior of the car. It is TfL regulation that all black cabs must take card payments but many Londoners said that this wasn’t being enforced properly.
LONDON’S CABBIES FACE BATTLE FOR EXISTENCE AMID CALLS TO SCRAP KNOWLEDGE
Black cabs may be at the end of the road -
as the Knowledge test faces
calls to be axed. According to The Sun, influential think tank, the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) says drivers for ride-hailing apps
including Uber should have the same privileges as black cabs. Its report recommends the Knowledge should go and minicabs and others should also be able to use bus lanes and pick up passengers from the street
ADDISON LEE TRIMS LOSSES AS DEMAND FOR PHVs RECOVERS
Addison Lee has trimmed its losses as demand for PHVs in London picks up. The Evening Standard reports that the minicab company returned to an under- lying profit of £7.9m in the 12 months to August 2021, recovering from a £9.4m underlying loss in 2020. On a pre-tax basis, losses reduced from £39.8m in 2020 to £23.1m last year. Turnover rose from £52m to £164m. More recently, passenger revenue has increased 47% and the group turned an underlying profit of £5 million in the first three months of the year. Addison Lee’s CEO, Liam Griffin, said:
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“With travel now returning to levels seen in 2019, we are confident that this is the start of a return to significant growth for the business.” In October, the company announced a recruitment drive to sign up 1,000 new drivers, saying it would guarantee them £5,000 in earnings in their first month. Faced with a potential driver shortage as it tries to ramp up its operations again, Addison Lee added extra benefits such as sick pay, maternity cover and financial support if drivers are involved in an accident to its existing pay offer.
to make services cheaper and easier. Ministers are currently mulling over more regulation by introducing an Ofqual-certified test for all potential cabbies. But Tory MP Greg Smith and the ASI are calling for greater deregulation. Mr Smith said reform is “long overdue”, adding: “The revolution in consumer choice that services such as Uber brought needs to be matched with the way the state sees taxi services.” Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, blasted the idea. He told The Sun: “This report seems to advocate for a race to bottom, which would undermine the quality of the important service licensed taxis provide and seriously jeopardise passenger safety.” He said it was exploring “how the Knowledge could be modernised” but scrapping it “would be catastrophic for the industry and passengers”. He added: “A satnav is no substitute for a professional driver’s knowledge and experience, especially in a busy, ever- evolving city like ours.”
JUNE 2022
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