Since the dawn of ridesharing, these Uber and Lyft cars, among several others, have been in tough competition with taxi drivers, who have traveled the road since the late 1800s, at least the first taxi drivers.
Now, private taxi drivers are asking Uber to follow their rules. In other words, according to these cab drivers, Uber drivers must curtsy to taxi chauffeurs. Otherwise, they will find it difficult to operate.
These Uber cars must abide by the rules to operate continuously in Berkshire, a county in southeast England. But the questionable here is that the taxi drivers will set the rules. Your thoughts?
Last month, the ridesharing giant had seemingly already done cursy-ed, since they are in the process of applying to operate in Reading. However, they reportedly did not succeed, were denied the license since they refused to have a staffed office in town.
The staffed office was supposed to handle customer bookings and complaints, as well as inspection and enforcement visits from council enforcement officers.
According to Sikandar Hayat, the head of the Reading Private Hire Association reaffirmed its decision that Uber must only be allowed to get the license if it follows the rules of the council.
Hayat stated, “Other operators work by providing drivers and customers access to the system; we have a 24-hour telephone system, and customers have direct access to offices. If Uber can comply with these conditions, [that’s okay.] Most of the drivers are concerned that if the rules change, they may not get the same care they expect.”
Uber is completely respecting the ruling since they have reportedly already applied for a license to be recognized as a private hire taxi operator. Meaning to say, journeys should be pre-booked from the app.
Uber wanted this tag since private hire drivers are allowed to take passengers on the spot, unlike ordinary taxis and black cab drivers in Reading.
Some private hire drivers were delighted that Uber has recognized their plea, saying this will allow them to use the app so they can be more competitive.
However, Hayat stated that operators still have concerns, strict in ensuring Uber must “follow the rules” all the time.
The private taxi association head also suggested that Uber must introduce zoning restrictions in town via its app to tackle the drivers’ issue with Uber licenses from other boroughs taking trade from the drivers of Reading.
He explained: “If Reading drivers get the work, it’s ok for us, if they [Uber] don’t follow the rules, if they don’t have a contact system, that is an issue.”
Uber is not yet issuing their official statement, seemingly keeping mum on this issue.
This scoop is going viral on social networking sites. On Facebook, netizen Mikey Gould stated, “The bit that cracked me up was ‘people must have access to taxi offices’. I can’t remember or even know of any taxi offices in locations that anyone would use…”
Meanwhile, according to netizen Vix Anderson-Cross, it’s a “hit or miss.”
Getting a taxi in Reading was always so hit and miss, if I pre booked one it was often significantly late, if I did it on one of the apps they’d say they were on the way and then either be mega late or no show and half the time it would tell a driver couldn’t be found. The only reliable way [to get a taxi was on the way back from the station,] jumping in a black cab,” they argued.
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