TfL denied Uber operator license, ride hailing service wins on appeal (Sept 2020)

[Guineveretoo]

Oh, ok.

This chap was saying that Uber drivers save themselves 3 grand a year by just buying regular insurance and telling their passengers to say that they're just friends of the driver if there was an accident.

They would not be able to do that with Uber because of the app. A private hire company might be able to get away with that, if it didn't electronically record journeys and passengers, but there is no way Uber drivers could do this.

Added to which, the cars themselves are licensed - they have stickers in the window in London to show that - and that requires them to have the right insurance amongst other things.

 

[killer b]

i am quite surprised at the petition on this - its quite telling how easily people are flogged a bisaed narrative and back (for what a petition is worth) the premise without maybe digesting the full story- 750k so far. we really are a wretched country

A million people petitioned the BBC to reinstate Clarkson after he was sacked for assaulting a colleague. There's a lot of wankers in the world.

 

[Guineveretoo]

i am quite surprised at the petition on this - its quite telling how easily people are flogged a bisaed narrative and back (for what a petition is worth) the premise without maybe digesting the full story- 750k so far. we really are a wretched country

That's not that many if they really have 3.5 million users and 40,000 drivers in London

 

[kabbes]

The link from killer b earlier questions where this 40,000 number has come from, pointing out that by Uber's own optimistic projection, they actually have 25,000 drivers at most.

 

[ricbake]

 

[xenon]

The link from killer b earlier questions where this 40,000 number has come from, pointing out that by Uber's own optimistic projection, they actually have 25,000 drivers at most.

Also, I don't believe 3 million people in London have used Uber. It was reported as 3 million people, not 3 million journeys last week.

This Grey Balling thing too. Nice bit of obscurantist jargan. It's deliberate thwarting of the regulator's inspectorate by providing false information to the inspectors.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The link from killer b earlier questions where this 40,000 number has come from, pointing out that by Uber's own optimistic projection, they actually have 25,000 drivers at most.

My understanding is that the 40,000 figure is in respect of the number of drivers across the UK, with certainly well over half of those being in London.

 

[kabbes]

My understanding is that the 40,000 figure is in respect of the number of drivers across the UK, with certainly well over half of those being in London.

That would be consistent with 25,000 then.

So it's totally misleading for them to be saying that 40,000 jobs are at threat, then.

 

[cupid_stunt]

That would be consistent with 25,000 then.

So it's totally misleading for them to be saying that 40,000 jobs are at threat, then.

Well, it's spin, innit.

I guess they could justify it by claiming that other licencing authorities could follow TfL and not renew their operating licences in other areas of the UK, therefore all drivers are at risk.

 

[sealion]

If you have signed up for uber thay still count you as a driver. It may have been two years ago and you only worked briefly for them.

 

[kabbes]

Well, it's spin, innit.

I guess they could justify it by claiming that other licencing authorities could follow TfL and not renew their operating licences in other areas of the UK, therefore all drivers are at risk.

That's a real push. You can come up with "what if" scenarios for everything. Uber are risking ALL cab drivers being out of work with their investment in self-driving cafes, for example.

 

[killer b]

So it's totally misleading for them to be saying that 40,000 jobs are at threat, then.

Launching an appeal against a licence revocation which is partly because of their record for deception with an actual load of lies seems like a bold move.

 

[not-bono-ever]

View attachment 116427

that reads like something Richard Branson would have come out with. urgh

 

[Raheem]

self-driving cafes

I want one!

 

[kabbes]

I want one!

All future tech ideas should be generated by incorrectly auto-corrected typos on phones. Phones are much more imaginative than people, clearly. A self-driving cafe is a brilliant notion.

 

[teqniq]

i am quite surprised at the petition on this - its quite telling how easily people are flogged a bisaed narrative and back (for what a petition is worth) the premise without maybe digesting the full story- 750k so far. we really are a wretched country

I think part of the reason is that people don't realise that Uber is in effect a multinational corporation that has managed to portray itself as an innovative tech startup, as has already been noted. Of course you're going to get plenty of people for whom the bottom line is that it's cheaper that traditional cabs but I wish more people would read around before supporting stuff like this.

 

[editor]

Interesting piece here: Understanding Uber: It's Not About The App - London Reconnections

 

[kabbes]

Interesting piece here: Understanding Uber: It's Not About The App - London Reconnections

Within the last 20-odd posts:

reading this piece this morning, seems pretty comprehensive

http://www.londonreconnections.com/2017/understanding-uber-not-app/

It's what we've been responding to in the last 20 posts.

 

[editor]

Within the last 20-odd posts:
It's what we've been responding to in the last 20 posts.

Sorry - it only just came up in my feed.

 

[Dogsauce]

All future tech ideas should be generated by incorrectly auto-corrected typos on phones. Phones are much more imaginative than people, clearly.

Not a tech idea, but I once fumbled the typing of 'toastie' and whatever combination I manage to hit (strangely I was unable to replicate this) got autocorrected to 'tortoise'. Of course, I then had to take on the mission of making a 'cheese tortoise' out of half an Edam with a shell pattern carved into the wax and babybels for limbs/head.

 

[agricola]

That would be consistent with 25,000 then.

So it's totally misleading for them to be saying that 40,000 jobs are at threat, then.

Well yes, but then it was totally misleading for them to say that 3.5 million Londoners relied on Uber to get around the city.

 

[Raheem]

All future tech ideas should be generated by incorrectly auto-corrected typos on phones. Phones are much more imaginative than people, clearly. A self-driving cafe is a brilliant notion.

Will we ever know how many tech innovations started out with a simple auto-correct error, leading to can-do blue-sky sessions and feelers out to the industry? By lunchtime, the boss's fury is somewhat tempered by the half a billion dollars of investment capital that has suddenly been pledged.

 

[maomao]

Addison Lee wrongly classed drivers as self-employed, tribunal rules

Addison Lee drivers (who are almost exactly like Uber drivers, Uber did not invent minicabs) have been found not to be self-employed. Following on from cases against Uber and City Sprint this is pretty big news in the transport industry.

 

[maomao]

Uber could regain their licence to operate VERY EASILY -- make all your drivers contracted employees. Like the Enmployment Tribunal's already ruled.

The TFL ruling has literally nothing to do with the employment status of Uber drivers.

 

[The Fornicator]

Yep, this is a licensing issue, not a worker-status issue.

I have to say Uber have shown their bullying nature with this reactive nonsense about 'jobs' at risk and people 'relying' on their minicab app.

Why make a huge drama out of it; all Uber has to do is properly comply with the regs like every other operator in London. You can't make your own rules up because you think you're too big to be challenged.

 

[agricola]

The TFL ruling has literally nothing to do with the employment status of Uber drivers.

Which is the worrying thing about the TFL ruling.

 

[agricola]

Will we ever know how many tech innovations started out with a simple auto-correct error, leading to can-do blue-sky sessions and feelers out to the industry? By lunchtime, the boss's fury is somewhat tempered by the half a billion dollars of investment capital that has suddenly been pledged.

the pre-Reformation Catholic Church wants its idea back

 

[The Fornicator]

Which is the worrying thing about the TFL ruling.

The worrying thing would have been if TfL continued the policy of Mayor Johnson in turning a blind eye, for whatever reasons.

Assuming you believe in equality under the law.

 

[Pickman's model]

The worrying thing would have been if TfL continued the policy of Mayor Johnson in turning a blind eye, for whatever reasons.

Assuming you believe in equality under the law.

Continued the policy of Boris Johnson. The habit of prefixing surnames with the person's job title is as lamentable as it is widespread and perhaps reached its nadir thus far on the last series of strictly when Robert Rinder was referred to throughout as judge despite only playing that role on TV.

 

[The Fornicator]

You mean like in Dickhead Pickman?