Uber, the smartphone app that has already caused mayhem in Manchester and London, could be on its way to the streets of Leeds.
It’s understood that Leeds City Council has received an application from an American based company to be licensed as a private hire operator causing uproar amongst existing taxi drivers in the city.
In the summer of this year, cabbies brought the streets of London to a standstill in a protest against the app, which allows passengers to book the nearest cab to their location and pay via a credit or debit card, which they say are not complying with the regulation rules.
Paul Landau, chairman of the Leeds cab section of Unite the Union claimed Uber is not operating a “legitimate service” as it’s “simply an app downloaded”.
He commented: “It’s not working within the parameters of what is acceptable within licensing guidelines.”
Uber Position
However, Uber bosses have maintained their stance, insisting that they comply with the regulations set by the council. Fans of the app claim that it’s extremely safe to use. Passengers are also given the chance to rate the service received from the driver and any driver who continuously scores low will be removed from the service.
Uber refused to comment further on their plans but confirmed that all of its drivers would have to pass the relevant DBS checks to obtain their private hire license through Leeds City Council before being employed by the company.
A spokesman for Leeds City Council said: “The application by Uber to be a licensed private hire operator in Leeds will be dealt with as per our usual licensing policies and regulations.