UBER UPDATE HEADING
OXFORD TAXI AND PH DRIVERS PROTEST AGAINST UBER LOCAL PILOT WITH 001
Taxi and PHV drivers in Oxford are infuriated with Uber’s new pilot relationship with taxi company 001 Oxford. The Oxford Mail reports that many local taxi drivers who do not work for 001 are con- cerned that this pilot will put their livelihoods at stake. On Thursday 26 August, cabbies and supporting councillors protested outside Oxford Town Hall to oppose the Uber pilot. Protest organisers said Uber has managed to ‘slip through the back door’ by being available in Oxford, even though the app has never been granted an operating licence. Azmat Sherwani, protest organiser and head of Say No to Uber said: “Oxford council has not approved Uber for a licence. They have not been able to get into the area because they have had their licence rejected many times. “What Uber has now done is bought a software provider that supplies software nationally to the taxi industry which gives them a back door into certain areas. “They are now coming into Oxford and it is going to be catastrophic to all these drivers who are here today because they will be potentially losing their businesses.” Bashir Ahmed, chairman of City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Cab Association believes with Uber in the city it is not ‘a level playing field’ for taxi drivers. He added: “We are expected to meet the high criteria of Oxford City Council in terms of vetting the drivers and meet- ing the demand. Uber does not have that, there is no one vetting their system.” Cllr Saj Malik, is a driver for Royal Cars. He says he is disap- pointed in Oxford City Council for letting Uber into the city and is concerned for the safety of Oxford passengers. Oxford councillor Tom Hayes said: “It is our duty, as the licensing authority, to ensure that the taxi trade in Oxford operates according to the law, the legal guidance issued by the government, and our local policy that puts the safety of passengers first. We take this responsibility seriously and are investigating whether or not the relationship between Uber and 001 meets these requirements. “Neither Uber nor 001 contacted Oxford City Council about this pilot. We are in the process of speaking to councils in the same situation and have contacted Uber and 001 to under- stand the legal issues and impact on taxi licensing in Oxford. “We have concerns around safeguarding passengers and ensuring driver and vehicle standards reach the high levels
OCTOBER 2021
we expect as a licensing authority and are eager to under- stand what this means for the rights of staff and a possible proliferation of out-of-town vehicles that we do not license.” Uber believes that it is working within Oxford regulations because it is working with a local licensed cab company. 001 Taxis said: “As a locally licensed operator and Oxford- based business, we provide earning opportunities to many drivers who live in the area. By partnering with Uber we are able to provide more opportunities for drivers and more choice to the customers who book with us through the Uber app. “In these difficult times over the last year and a half, where we, like most service companies have suffered, this was a means of providing a little extra work for all drivers who engage with 001 taxis who are local drivers and who have all had a tough time recently.”
UBER FRANCE ORDERED TO PAY CABBIES FOR CREATING ‘UNFAIR COMPETITION’
Uber France was ordered on Friday 10 September to pay more than €180,000 in damages to over 900 taxi drivers and their union for creating “unfair competition” between 2014 and 2015 through the Uber Pop feature. The Brussels Times reports that Uber France, which was sentenced in December 2015 by the Paris Court of Appeal for deceptive commercial practices, has this time been condemned in civil proceedings. The court found that Uber, through its Uber Pop offer, had violated the rules of the market and “necessarily caused moral prejudice, consisting in particular in the damage caused to the image and reputation of taxi drivers.” The company will therefore have to pay €200 in moral damages to 910 taxi drivers and €5,000 to the union of taxi drivers’ cooperative societies in the Paris region. This case concerns an activity an Uber spokesperson said “was suspended in France in 2015,” adding that the applica- tion now only uses licensed drivers “who pass the same exams as taxi drivers.” Uber has been having the same sort of struggles in Belgium, where Brussels has effectively banned the platform from operating out of concern that its business model runs anti- thetical to progressive European labour laws. Brussels Minister President Rudi Vervoort promised reform before the start of summer, but that reform hasn’t come. The Uber Pop service offered between February 2014 and July 2015 was the cause of the conviction in France. It allowed users to be matched with vehicles whose drivers were private individuals who did not hold a taxi or VTC licence, necessary for the professional transport of individuals. In addition to the legal trouble for Uber, the service prompted a wave of protests from taxi drivers. It was eventually withdrawn and Uber was fined at the end of 2015 an amount of €150,000 by the Paris Court of Appeal.
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