Below is a copy of a complaint made to TfL by a concerned member of the public. It should be noted that even members of the public are aware that this service is operating outside the parameters of the legislation and are confused at TfLs continued support of a company, basically breaking the law:
Complaint:
Last Saturday evening I booked a Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) for my wife and I to go a short distance from our home in Mortlake to a local restaurant for dinner.
I made the booking through the mobile phone application (app) ‘Uber’. Having opened the app, I was advised that there was a vehicle available within 7 minutes which I then ‘requested’. The ‘booking’ consisted in its entirety of these two ‘clicks,’ and at no time was I required to enter either pickup or destination details, or advised of the price.
When the Gentleman arrived he of course had no idea where I wanted to go, and when we told him, he had no idea of the location of the restaurant, and therefore no idea which way to turn his steering wheel.
After some frantic satnav work and verbal directions from us, all undertaken in the middle of a busy road junction, we set off on our short journey. We were not told the price until the journey had ended.
My complaint, therefore, is that when a customer books a Private Hire Vehicle, the driver should arrive knowing the main destination of the journey specified at the time of the booking, and with any fare or estimated fare quoted at the time of the booking, as specified in the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 section 4.(3)(b).
I understand that Private Hire drivers do not undertake the ‘Knowledge of London,’ and are therefore unlikely to arrive at pickups sufficiently able to transport passengers safely and economically without journey details being recorded at the time of booking, prior to despatch.
If a driver passes the Knowledge of London, admired the world over for its exacting difficulty, they are deemed competent to pick up passengers on demand, on the understanding that they will know which way to turn the steering wheel when customers arrive in the Taxi and tell them the destination.
If a driver registers as a Private Hire Driver and/or Operator, for which there is only a cursory topographical test, they will need to have journey details collected at the time of booking, prior to dispatch, in order that when they do arrive to pick up passengers, they are sufficiently informed as to where they are going, and can concentrate on transporting passengers safely.
There is nothing here that is changed in any way by the advent of smart phones, GPS, or any other new technology.
This is about, as it always has been, getting people from A to B safely and in abdicating responsibility and deferring completely unnecessarily to the High Court (why?) TfL is compromising the safety of Londoners daily.
I would therefore request that TfL explain why Uber passengers are not required to enter journey details at time of booking, prior to despatch as required by the above mentioned Act of Parliament?
Ends
Editorial Comment:
While they are at it, perhaps TfL would like to explain
Why they licensed a PH operator that didn't have a land line to take ore booking as per the 1998 Act
Why they licensed a PH operator that didn't/ still doesn't have a central operating centre where booking were all journey and drivers records are kept for inspection, as per the 1998 Act.
Why this modus operandi wasn't detected in 2012 when the licence was first applied for.
Again we offer space on this blog, should TfL wish to explain their actions to the 25,000 licensed Taxi drivers and the 65,000 Private hire drivers who have adhered strictly to the legislation set down by active Parliament.