The London Taxi driver is licensed to ply for hire on London’s streets... while in motion or stationary on a rank (be it outside a hotel, restaurant, shop, underground or mainline station).
We have also been given the grace and favour to legally pick up from ranks on private property such as Airports (LAP and City) and certain hotel forecourts and main line stations.
But that’s not enough for some drivers... they’re looking for a Wonka bar golden ticket, to allow them to get an even bigger slice of the action so to speak.
Many are even willing to sell out long term principles to enable them to jump queues.
Drivers are now deep in the habit of buying back work that is rightfully there’s anyway.
It’s not really new, it’s been like this for many years, first with radio circuits and now through smart phone technology.
Lately it seems we are being smothered by Taxi apps, all vying to sell you jobs, some at knock down prices and others surging just like a certain private hire company that shall remain nameless.
Drivers used to react violently when asked to work alongside PH, in one case completely boycotting one app who dared to dispatch work to PH from the same app as Taxis, causing them to rethink and issue an apology. Hailo never really recovered from the boycott and subsequently sold out to a corporate buyer.
But now times have changed dramatically with street hails few and far between, some drivers driven on by greed are quite willing to work quietly alongside PH.
But now a new boy on the block, I say new but actually they’ve been around for over a year but hadn’t launch till now.
Tappa, offers to sell you back your own work at the knockdown rate of 8% but there’s a caveat to this... they will be operating a system of private bookings through the phone app and not the meter at 5% more than the going rate.
What will the passengers say when they see a fare on the meter but are then charged over and above.... it’s simple say Tappa, you work with the meter off.
Yes you read that correctly, they want you to work through the Uber style meter in the phone app with the meter off.
Isn’t that illegal you ask, no...allegedly they’ve explained their modus operandi to TfL and been given a clean bill of health.
How have they been licensed to operate you may ask, well truth is Licensed Taxi apps don’t need an operators licence because all the drivers are licensed to ply for hire, it’s only when they put PH vehicles on the app they have to apply for an operators licence
So we now have
- One greedy app charging 15%
- Another greedy app surge pricing at busy times, openly charging more than the meter.
- There’s even a semi-secret app for Vitos which pays doorman for airports
And now we have an app that operates its own pricing structure with the meter turned off.
(Are you not insured if you carry passengers without the meter engaged???)
How wonderful TfL must feel, they must be laughing their socks off....drivers signing up to a project horizon style one tiered service.
What is it they say, give some one enough rope, and they will hang themselves.
It’s Turkeys voting for Christmas all over again.
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
If TAPPA are intent on running a service outside the confines and protection of the Taxi meter, as laid down in the legislation of the Hackney Carriage Acts, then the service they are operating is a private hire bookings service that should require a Private Hire Licence.
Surely, by asking drivers to mask the fact from passengers that they are being charged more than the metered rate by not putting on the meter, is deception?