Taxi Operators (Companies) stealing from their drivers, how to deal with it?

LinLui

DullGreyGuy said:

LinLui said:

a way to get around this was not to work for any company at all and simply drive the streets with your taxi light in and get  random street hires.

You can only do that if you have a hackney licence or a dual licence. Hackney carraiges have to be badged as such - most taxis cannot pick up fairs on the street or at ranks.

These days many people would need their heads testing to get into a random car that looks like a taxi which is just driving around looking for a fare!

Whats required to sign up for Uber etc? Would have thought many hackney and private hire firms have lost direct business to apps

Uber is, effectively, private hire. Not Hackney. Many private hire drivers (for operators) also have Uber and switch between the two. 

@stu12345_2 yeah the guy had his light on or off if he had a hire or not, it was perfectly badged and licensed, the only thing that was missing was a two way radio in his cab that would have been used if he was using a taxi company. Oh,  and, from the sound of what you are describing, he was also missing operating lawfully. 

stu12345_2

how is he acting illegally by not joining a taxi company, his cab was approved by council, his licence approved by council.
he had a hackney cab and could pck up fares from folk flagging him down in the street as you normally do when flagging down a taxi 

it wasn't a private hire car he had

DullGreyGuy

LinLui said:

DullGreyGuy said:

LinLui said:

a way to get around this was not to work for any company at all and simply drive the streets with your taxi light in and get  random street hires.

You can only do that if you have a hackney licence or a dual licence. Hackney carraiges have to be badged as such - most taxis cannot pick up fairs on the street or at ranks.

These days many people would need their heads testing to get into a random car that looks like a taxi which is just driving around looking for a fare!

Whats required to sign up for Uber etc? Would have thought many hackney and private hire firms have lost direct business to apps

Uber is, effectively, private hire. Not Hackney. Many private hire drivers (for operators) also have Uber and switch between the two. 

@stu12345_2 yeah the guy had his light on or off if he had a hire or not, it was perfectly badged and licensed, the only thing that was missing was a two way radio in his cab that would have been used if he was using a taxi company. Oh,  and, from the sound of what you are describing, he was also missing operating lawfully. 

I'm well aware that uber is private hire... there was the TFL court case on if they met the restrictions of private hire given most the time you'll get one in half the time of flagging down a hackney plated vehicle and they operate in a way very similar to a meter.

The question was more that if the OP is hiring their radio etc from an operator can they just sign up with Uber and similar apps themselves or if they need permission from the operator etc? I dont know if this is a contract by contract thing or if there are more universal rules. 

In some countries outside of the UK anyone at all can sign up for Uber but when booking you have more types to decide if you want a random person with a car or a licensed private hire

LinLui

stu12345_2 said:

how is he acting illegally by not joining a taxi company, his cab was approved by council, his licence approved by council.
he had a hackney cab and could pck up fares from folk flagging him down in the street as you normally do when flagging down a taxi 

it wasn't a private hire car he had

That wasn't quite what you said though. 

Savvy_Sue

penners324 said:

You can make a complaint to the licensing authority, with all the evidence you have.

Or the Ombudsman if there is one.

You can never go to an ombudsman before you've exhausted the 'regular' complaints process, so you'd have to start with the licensing authority. They'd be able to tell you where you could take it above them if not satisfied. 

And I don't know how it works, but round here, some of the local taxi companies also have Uber logos on their cars, so they're doing both.