The Brighton cabbie who runs a council has shared his concerns about Uber, days before a key decision about the smartphone app.
City Cabs driver Neil Parkin is also the leader of Adur District Council. He said: “We’re concerned that Uber don’t play on an even field.”
He said that the Uber app was easy to use but the company, based at Tower Point, in North Road, Brighton, did not seem bound by the same rules as other firms.
Mr Parkin said that he tried not to get involved in council matters in Brighton and Hove.
But he responded to a series of questions about Uber’s application to become a private hire operator in the where he has plied his trade for decades.
He said that taxi and private hire operators in Brighton and Hove were required to have wheelchair accessible vehicles.
He added: “They haven’t got any wheelchair accessible vehicles. They’re not interested but for years the government has been telling us we’ve got to have them.
“To me, that’s totally wrong and to me Uber are morally wrong.
“We’re not against progress. My company (City Cabs) has got an app. We just want a level playing field and fairness.”
Issues around child protection and criminal records checks have been raised as well as surge fares – fares that rise at times of high demand.
Mr Parkin said: “They’ll undercut local firms until they’re busy.”
A report to the Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel that will hear Uber’s application on Monday (19 October) includes a copy of a complaint about Uber under competition law.
But Mr Parkin said: “It’s a difficult one. It’s not about competition. As a cab driver I’m used to that.”
The panel will be made up of three councillors with years of experience in deciding licensing applications – Mo Marsh, Dee Simson and Lizzie Deane.
The report in front of them repeats that Uber can be turned down only if it is not “a fit and proper person” to hold a private hire operator’s licence.
And many of the complaints against the company are regarded as hearsay.
It already has licences in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
But the San Francisco firm has faced legal challenges in several countries as it has rapidly grown and challenged traditional practices using smartphone technology.
If Uber is granted a licence – as even some of its critics believe it will be – the existing operators in Brighton and Hove, such as City Cabs, Radio Cabs and Streamline, may find drivers take up Uber’s recruiting incentives.
Mr Parkin said: “Some of the drivers will (join Uber) – without a doubt.”
He said that private hire drivers locally worked exclusively for one operator – but there was movement between firms.
Uber, though, has attracted an unusually strong degree of ill-feeling. Anyone who signs up for the new operator may find that if things don’t work out they won’t be welcomed back into their old ranks.
