Uber to lose licence to operate in London

Soldato
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So that 2,399 PH operators in London instead of 2400. Also the only reason Uber fares are cheap is because it's hugely subsidised by venture capital. It cannot keep losing money forever.


And don’tcharge or pay VAT either . They register each driver as separate business.

Good ridden I say - private hire and black can trade have suffered far to much over Uber .

There is a major shortage of drivers at other cab companies and now Uber have gone maybe we can start to charge a decent amount for each ride .
 
Man of Honour
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76,634
There is a major shortage of drivers at other cab companies and now Uber have gone maybe we can start to charge a decent amount for each ride .
if you want to charge a decent amount, then at least come into the 21st century and offer what uber does.
and its not ubers fault that governments have so many loop holes in tax law.
 
Associate
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if you want to charge a decent amount, then at least come into the 21st century and offer what uber does.
and its not ubers fault that governments have so many loop holes in tax law.

A number of operators already do eg Addison Lee. I myself use 3 black cab e-hailing apps and do roughly 60% of my business on them.
 
Soldato
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For all of those saying that uber won't be pulled from London. Look at Austin. Uber left Austin, Texas for months. I believe it has only just returned or is in the process.

Personally although I live in Nottingham not London. Uber is a superior service. We live in a day of dying cash. If a taxi would take my card I'd do it but more than often they don't.

Yes morally uber is a bit shady and TfL are trying to sort this out but then again amazon is pretty shady but I bet most comparing about Uber's morals order off amazon regularly.
 
Soldato
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Yes morally uber is a bit shady and TfL are trying to sort this out but then again amazon is pretty shady but I bet most comparing about Uber's morals order off amazon regularly.

Amazon are pretty shady but Uber are off the scale. Amazon takes advantage of tax and employment loopholes but they’ve never widely broken the law.

Uber’s founder got forced out of his role as CEO because his business practices were so shady.
 
Man of Honour
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Meh. They'll grease the right palms and be on their way again.

Very likely, but hey, who cares if it means that you can get from Kensington to Canary Wharf for a tenner?

FFS

We should all Boycott black cabs, i refuse to pay their ridiculously overpriced fares. Uber was always so convenient and cheap, this has really annoyed me.

TFL set the metered fare not the drivers.

Totally agree Xenon89, Complete ballache having to use black cabs.

Unhappy? I'm all broke up.

Complete opposite for me, was hoping to get the tube from North Greenwich to Heathrow last year, cue problems at Canary Wharf so stuck at North Greenwich, no taxis to be seen so checked Uber, still nothing available until ticking the agreement to pay extra, all of a sudden 4 taxis appear available around the O2 and cue a £150 charge to get to Heathrow, will never use Uber again and hope they are stopped from operating robbing barstools.

It's a totally different experience to what I found using Hailo in Dublin which was far more reasonable and convenient to use.

I'm genuinely surprised at your £150 quote, I quit driving a black cab 5.5 years ago, but I would have guesstimated North Greenwich to Heathrow at £80-£90 tops.

On one hand I hate black cabs almost as much as cyclists with thier blaitent flaunting of traffic rules, overpriced fairs and "woe is me I can't earn £100k pa anymore (£50k undeclared) because of competition" attitude

On the other since uber arrived traffic has skyrocketed in London and they also can't drive

Christ, I must have been doing it wrong, with me it was circa £60k, £21k declared.



No ones hoping you lose your job, it's just accepted by everyone who uses cabs now that black cab charges are extortionate.

I use them on occasion, and I'm a retired pensioner.
 
Soldato
Joined
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23,390
This is more to do with Uber drivers being a bit dodgy more than anything else. Black cab drivers (and other professional drivers) are properly vetted, uber drivers aren't and it seems to be attracting the sorts that wouldn't normally be allowed to do it, as well as sexual predators it seems. Any clown can sign the contract and buy a satnav.

They have been telling Uber to clean up for a long time now, they haven't. The prices are so low BECAUSE it's dodgy, just like knock-off goods. Their entire business model needs to change.
 
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Soldato
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Associate
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This is more to do with Uber drivers being a bit dodgy more than anything else. Black cab drivers (and other professional drivers) are properly vetted, uber drivers aren't and it seems to be attracting the sorts that wouldn't normally be allowed to do it, as well as sexual predators it seems. Any clown can sign the contract and buy a satnav.

They have been telling Uber to clean up for a long time now, they haven't. The prices are so low BECAUSE it's dodgy, just like knock-off goods. Their entire business model needs to change.

According to Ubers change.org petition it quotes that...

Safety is of the highest importance and drivers who use Uber are licensed by Transport for London and have been through the same enhanced background checks as black cab drivers. Our pioneering technology has gone further to enhance safety with every trip tracked and recorded by GPS.

Quite a contradiction to what most people are saying about it's lack of safety...
 
Commissario
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Panting like a fiend
According to Ubers change.org petition it quotes that...



Quite a contradiction to what most people are saying about it's lack of safety...
You expect Uber (a company the developed specific apps to avoid regulators, and track journalists critical of them) to admit in their petition that they're not doing their job properly?

It's not just those on here, it's TFL, it's regulators in other countries, it's any number of journalists, it's people that have won court cases against them.
They have a systematic and endemic problem with breaking the law when it suits them then using every tactic in the book (and then some) to get out of the consequences.

This is a company that decided it wouldn't pay $150 to register their vehicles for self driving tests on public roads (because it would require them to honestly report any issues with the system used), instead they went ahead with them and lied when they went through red lights, and then when caught moved their fleet to another state in the US.
 
Soldato
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No-one is saying that there’s zero risk with black cabs. The risks are just much, much higher with Uber.

Uber is even fighting TfL over introducing English tests for drivers.

And yet still tiny.

Until they start charging fares that allow them to turn a profit I'd ban them. They are artificially creating a monopoly by putting other companies out of business.

Monopoly? There is only one monopoly and it is amongst hail and ride options.

A business like uber loses money because it spends a lot of money growing, just like any business in its infancy. You are basically complaining that uber is gaining market share. Go ahead and tell that to other businesses.

This ban will hurt consumers, not help them. They will now waste time waiting for minicabs which are no guarantee of "safety" if people are willing to call uber unsafe. They will also end up paying more as reduced competition results in higher prices. Uber is also the most transparent service out there.

Helps no one but black cabs and older minicab businesses (many of whom have self employed drivers) who will have less competition.

Once self driving cars become a reality, this same lobby will say they are unsafe and should be banned by pointing to some accidents. Mark my words.
 
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Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2009
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24,863
A business like uber loses money because it spends a lot of money growing, just like any business in its infancy. You are basically complaining that uber is gaining market share. Go ahead and tell that to other businesses.

Not many businesses lose billions upon billions, year after year, not even someone like Amazon were losing money that aggressively to gain a market.

It's a legitimate concern, if they're willing to post $3b losses year after year to drive other people out of the market, it's only going to go one way for consumers when they decide they've got the share they need because they'll need to recoup these losses one day.
 
Caporegime
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An illegal minicab also offers consumers increased choice and provides income for the drivers. Why is that bad, but Uber ignoring the organisation responsible for licensing is OK?
 
Caporegime
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An illegal minicab also offers consumers increased choice and provides income for the drivers. Why is that bad, but Uber ignoring the organisation responsible for licensing is OK?


uber have valid insurnace?


so they're perfectly fine everywhere else in the country just the city with overprixed black cabs where thier service fails? hmmm
 
Caporegime
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This is more to do with Uber drivers being a bit dodgy more than anything else. Black cab drivers (and other professional drivers) are properly vetted, uber drivers aren't and it seems to be attracting the sorts that wouldn't normally be allowed to do it, as well as sexual predators it seems. Any clown can sign the contract and buy a satnav.

They have been telling Uber to clean up for a long time now, they haven't. The prices are so low BECAUSE it's dodgy, just like knock-off goods. Their entire business model needs to change.


asking around my friends both black cabs and uber seem to contain the same number of sexual exposures/creepy **** from drivers however its only blaxk cabs that pic people out in rabdomnplaces after they get told to put thier winky away
 
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