Taxi Driver Online

Noticed the UCG as signatories to that letter about the vaccinations.

So it appears they are still around, and found their website. Just had a quick look, and no sign of anything about specific legal action.

But there's this slightly ironic paragraph on the front page of their website:




https://www.ucglondon.org.uk/

Should all TAXI proprietors not be allowed to join this class action, under the present P/Hire rules for England a vehicle not licenced by that Authority must not make it self available for hire in that Authorities district. Uber have vehicles(standing thus making themselves available for hire) in most districts where they do not have a licence(operator or vehicle/driver) but give fares to vehicles on their circuit..

You make a good point.

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IDFIMH

This would apply to those Hackney Carriages(TAXIS) who work on circuits outside their licensing authorities, they cannot make themselves available for hire outside their licensing authority, seat belt law states they have to wear a seat belt unless they are plying for hire which they cannot do outside their licensing authority.
Lack of enforcement and those who do not want to abide by the rules or seek to ignore them which is many are to blame for most of the ails with our trade.

But the 'triple lock' rule is well established, and sub-contracting was specifically legislated for in the Deregulation Act.

Fair point about the action only being available to London drivers, though. Not sure why - if the booking thing is a goer then presumably any driver anywhere in the UK where Uber operates will have been affected. But, of course, London has its own licensing regime distinct from the rest of the UK, so that might be a factor - it would make the action slightly more straightforward, rather than involving the rule books of dozens of different councils.

But why has this Cabbies Action Group setup disappeared? Why have all the others who supposedly also supported the action also disappeared, including Harbour Litigation (who were funding it all) and several trade associations etc, including some from the PH side:


Of course, lawyers Mishcon de Reya still seem to be involved, but since others are footing their bill it's no risk to them, and a lawyer will always construct an argument of sorts if they're paid to do so.

And the Cabbies Action Group website now says it's 'no longer operational', but directs visitors to the BULit21 website, which I'm sure it didn't do when I first looked last week.

But apart from that, I can't see precisely why most of the major players in the action seem to have pulled out, or to what extent they're still supportive. My best guess - and it's a bit obvious - is that it was decided that the legal case was too flimsy.

Anyway, if you want to organise your own class action then I'll be right behind you

or they have combined into a single entity called Bulit21 ?

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Dunno, but the evidence above suggests otherwise.

For example, TaxiPoint had plenty of stuff on it last time round, but nothing this time apart from effectively just publishing the press release from the litigation funding people RGL Management.

And, when I looked, no obvious support from the UCG and UTAG apart from the website redirection to BULit21.

So at a rough guess I'd say the trade is not against it as such, but just don't want to get too involved, and are leaving it to RGL to do the heavy lifting.

Saw one driver on social media saying that they couldn't get the necessary numbers last time round, so who knows. If that's the case, then I can't see RGL doing any better.

The numbers look impressive, but as I said a couple of years ago, maybe once drivers have to supply personal information (earnings details, most obviously), then that might scare some of them off.

And I'm wondering if further in the process there's some kind of financial commitment required from drivers that isn't obvious from the outset.

According to TaxiPoint 10,000 of the world's best are up for the fight.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/over- ... ainst-uber

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IDFIMH

Nearly 11,000 now.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/11-00 ... ainst-uber

All well and good and very spinny, but surely they need to start getting some court action.

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IDFIMH

Uber will wipe the floor with them I think this is more about convincing them they have done all they can than actually taking uber to court

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Maybe, maybe not.

We have to remember the folks getting drivers to sign up are not charging (well unless they win) drivers, so it's one hell of a gamble for them.

My experience of lawyers is they never gamble with their own money.

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IDFIMH

Little update.

According to TaxiPoint website the i's are being dotted and the t's are being crossed.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/actio ... ainst-uber

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IDFIMH

Interesting from France, about the (former) UberPop service, which used unlicensed drivers.

So there's a rough parallel with the London case.

But the damages awarded to Parisian drivers is peanuts - €192 each


Uber ordered to pay taxi drivers damages in France

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-ube ... rance.html

A French court on Friday ordered ride-hailing service Uber to pay damages to taxi drivers whose business suffered from unlicensed competitors.

Uber France will have to pay 180,000 euros ($213,000) to 910 taxi drivers and their federation who brought a civil case against Uber for unfair competition, the court ruled.

The case centred on the activities in 2014 and 2015 of UberPop, a platform that brought together clients and unlicensed drivers.

The business, marketed as ride-sharing, sparked the ire of traditional taxi drivers who felt the new service was threatening their livelihoods with cheap fares.

They notably argued that non-professional drivers did not have to pay for training, or acquire a taxi licence which in Paris can cost more than 100,000 euros, allowing them to undercut taxis.

Uber France had already in December 2015 lost its appeal against a guilty verdict by a criminal court for misleading commercial practices, and was ordered to pay a fine of 150,000 euros.

In its civil case decision Friday, the court found that passing off untrained drivers as professionals hurt the image and the reputation of licensed taxi drivers.

The damages payout works out at 192 euros for each of the 910 drivers, and 5,000 euros for the Paris taxi drivers' federation.

Uber on Friday said that it has not been using unlicensed drivers in France since 2015, and that drivers now had to take the same tests as licensed taxi drivers.

"This is a good decision which will stop other platforms from providing illegal transport," taxi federation president Christophe Jacopin said of the verdict.

Latest c/o TaxiPoint website.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/no-im ... g-says-rgl

But still no timescale yet.

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IDFIMH

Reps are still recruiting drivers, but don't see any sign of court action yet.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/uber- ... e-intrigue

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IDFIMH