Uber has made a fresh bid for a licence in York.
The global transport company wants a new private hire operator’s licence in the city, six and a half years after it was stripped off its last one.
However, Uber cars licensed in neighbouring authorities such as Leeds and Bradford have continued to ferry customers around York.
Director of the company Neil McGonigle has made the application on behalf of Uber Britannia Limited.
He wants to operate private hire vehicles from an office at Tower Court, Oakdale Road, Clifton Moor. But as the vehicles are hailed by an app, they wouldn’t be based there.
A report to the City of York Council licensing and regulatory committee states that the law allows private hire operators to use drivers who have no connection to the licensing authority.
It states: “Uber have been lawfully enabling passengers to take journeys in York under the ‘triple licensing rule’ since 2015. This application will enable them to recruit York licensed drivers (and vehicles) to undertake those journeys.”
Uber and taxi complaints
Uber operated under licence in York for 16 months until December 2017. At that point, councillors denied the company a licence renewal due to “a significant data breach and an increase in the number of complaints”, the report says.
“The committee report presented at the meeting noted that of the 296 complaints about taxis in the previous eleven months, 155 related to Uber drivers and vehicles.
“Uber initially appealed the committee decision to the magistrates’ court but the appeal was subsequently withdrawn.”
Uber may be bidding to get a licence again in York now given the impending election. If the Labour Party win, it could look to crackdown on cross-border private hire.
The council report lists 31 complaints made against Uber drivers over the last year. Many of these come from York’s taxi drivers, including reports about Ubers waiting on official taxi ranks which they are not allowed to do.
Officers note that “Uber drivers are more likely to be known to taxi drivers than the general public e.g ‘waiting on ranks’. Therefore, that there are a high percentage of complaints from the taxi trade is not surprising and officers are grateful for all the information supplied.”
There are also reports of Ubers driving the wrong way up a one-way street, making illegal turns and parking in disabled parking bays.
The report goes on: “As well as the complaints about where the vehicles are waiting, the other complaints include six about ‘the standard of driving’ and one complaint about the refusal to carry a guide dog.
“These complaints were predominantly dealt with by the local authority where they were licensed. It is noted that the complaints are predominantly about the actions of Uber drivers and not about the operator.”
The report also includes the 104 complaints made about all other taxis in York to help councillors “put the Uber complaints in that context”.
These complaints range from allegations of sexual harassment to drivers urinating in public, driving allegedly while watching football on a phone and making inappropriate remarks.
The council report states: “In the opinion of officers, the volume of Uber complaints is similar to some – not all – other large operators in the city and similar to the total received about York ‘hackney carriage vehicles’ generically.”
Councillors must decide whether Uber is a fit and proper operator to be granted a licence at the meeting next Tuesday (11 June). They can also decide to attach conditions to the operator’s licence.