London’s black cab drivers have been dealt a blow in their ongoing battle against private hire app Uber, as UK courts have ruled that the Uber app is legal and Mr Justice Ouseley ruled that because the app is not used to calculate fares alone, this means that it is not the equivalent of a taximeter.
Cabbies had argued that they are the only ones with the right to use a taximeter, as set out by law, and they had the backing of London mayor Boris Johnson, who has previously stated that Uber drivers were routinely breaking the law by using the app because it calculated the fare for its drivers. Johnson also argued that the app, which customers use to hail a private hire vehicle, was simply an extension of hailing a cab on the street; another practice which is permitted only for black cab drivers.
Uber connects private drivers and those looking to hire a taxi or vehicle to get to destinations. For the customer, the process works in a similar way to hiring any kind of taxi, except that they can pay automatically by credit card, do not have to tip, and they typically enjoy lower fares than they would when using a black cab.
Driver details are forwarded to the customer, which the company behind the app says helps ensure the safety of passengers and drivers, while all drivers are supposed to undergo a background check before they are allowed to register. Critics of the company, including black cab drivers and Mr Johnson, have tried stating that the system is not safe because drivers are not vetted in the same way as cab drivers are, but have lost the latest battle to try and prevent Uber from operating in the capital.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service has said that so-called hoverboards, or self-balancing scooters, are illegal to ride on the road or on the pavement, which means that using them anywhere except on private land is breaking the law. The same rules also apply to the use of Segways, but it is the sudden increase in self-balancing scooters that has caused the CPS to feel the need to step in.
