UBER N. I.

The firm has posted an online invitation to Northern Ireland's taxi drivers to attend an 'information session' on Friday and confirmed it would launch on December 11.

Uber is a taxi-booking app for mobile phones which allows customers to locate the nearest cab using GPS, before dispatching it.

The company says drivers have the chance to 'be their own boss' and is offering 'once-in-a-lifetime incentives'.

Drivers for the firm will have to hold a valid Private Hire Driver's Licence from the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA).

A DOE spokesperson said: "The department can confirm that Uber has been granted a Taxi Operator Licence. Uber will be required to fulfull all normal conditions that apply to this licensing agreement."

The company is likely to face stiff competition from Northern Ireland's two big taxi firms - Value Cabs and FonaCab.

Reacting to the news FonaCab tweeted: "Their prices won't be any cheaper, most likely more expensive due to drivers losing a service fe (sic)."

A Twitter user Neil Harrison replied: "Never had an uber yet thats been more expensive than a regular taxi."

Uber already operates in Dublin and across the UK with drivers fully licensed under each individual area's laws. The firm takes around 20% of the total fare.
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An Aberdeen law student has convinced the city’s sheriff court to overturn a council decision to reject his application for a private-hire car driver’s licence.

The sheriff ruled the council’s licensing committee had exceeded its powers in insisting on Sam Murray passing a street knowledge test.

Mr Murray said the outcome raised the prospect of other people taking Aberdeen City Council to court for rejecting their applications in error.

He told the court the committee’s policy was “illegal and unenforceable”, and that it had potentially cost many people an income.

The case arose after Mr Murray, who represented himself at last month’s court hearing, was turned down for a private hire licence last year.

Mr Murray, 27, had hoped to work as a private-hire driver to support himself financially while studying.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said the committee should have stuck to the provisions of a UK Parliament act from the 1980s, which states that such a test need only be taken by those applying for a taxi driver’s licence.

The Civic Government (Scotland) act 1982 sets out a two-tier regime which distinguishes between taxis and private-hire cars.

Taxis can pick up passengers who hail them on the street and at ranks, as well as taking on pre-booked fares, while private hire-cars are restricted to advanced bookings.

The act says taxi drivers must pass a street knowledge test because they have to work out routes on the spot. Private-hire drivers can bypass the requirement, however, as they have time to plan their route.

But in 1990 the committee approved a policy that spread the requirement across both types of driver in the interests of customer service.

Mr Murray met the committee late last year after being given an opportunity to explain why he should be granted a private-hire license as an exceptional case.

He said the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 overrode the committee’s policy and that he should not have been required to take a test.

Mr Murray reasoned that advances in technology, namely satellite navigation, made such a test unnecessary for private-hire drivers and that he had an above average knowledge of the city roads – but the committee remained unconvinced.

Mr Murray then took his case before Sheriff Murray, who said that while the 1990 committee had not acted in a “perverse of irrational” manner when it developed the policy, it had gone beyond its remit.

Following the ruling, Mr Murray said: “Not only have I vindicated myself, I feel I can now help a lot of people who were declined a legitimate income for 25 years because of this illegal practice.”

He added: “Anyone who has applied for a private-hire licence since 1982 has been forced to sit this test.

“They’ve essentially become a taxi driver and that’s not what they applied for. You’ve had people going through expensive schooling, people having to sit this test, causing them great stress … and having to seek other employment.

“People have lost out here. They’ve lost their fees for applying or they’ve had to become a taxi driver and incur all the fees that go with that.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “Our officers are currently considering the committee’s position in light of the sheriff’s judgment and will provide appropriate advice to members in due course.”

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/business/north-of-scotland/768581/council-exceeded-remit-enforcing-taxi-route-test/
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 Watchdog supports UBER

 Proposals to increase restrictions on taxi companies such as Uber criticised by competition watchdog

Proposals which would increase restrictions on taxi companies such as Uber have been criticised by the competition watchdog.



Transport for London is holding a consultation on a series of measures - such as forcing private hire drivers to wait at least five minutes before starting a journey so they can plan an appropriate route.

Other proposals include forcing operators to accept bookings up to seven days in advance, introducing controls over car sharing and ensuring fares are specified in advance.

But the Competition and Markets Authority has warned that a number of the suggestions would harm competition.



In a written response the CMA accepted that mini cab passengers need the protection of regulation, but claimed some of the proposals "would go significantly beyond this".

The CMA concluded that the five-minute delay policy would deny customers a better service than would otherwise be available, while a mandatory pre-booking service could "place undue burdens on some providers".

On the issue of car sharing - which taxi app Uber will launch on Friday - the CMA urged TfL to "balance the competition implications of any proposed regulation against the public safety objectives that (it) rightly seeks to pursue".

More than 192,000 people have signed a petition launched by Uber to express concern that the proposals will make it harder for them to find "a convenient and affordable ride at the tap of a button".

London mayor Boris Johnson has blamed Uber for increasing traffic levels in the city. The number of private-hire driver licences in London has risen from 65,000 in March 2013 to 92,000 earlier this month.

TfL's consultation began on September 30 and will end on December 23.

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-12-02/proposals-to-increase-restrictions-on-taxi-companies-such-as-uber-criticised-by-competition-watchdog/