Are Uber taxis coming to Shropshire? We'll have to 'wait and see'
Shropshire will have to "wait and see" if taxi app company Uber will expand to the county, raising concerns there could be problems with licensing arrangements.
Members of Shropshire Council's strategic licensing committee discussed the company at a meeting yesterday when council officers assured members they would be ready should the taxi operator get in touch about expanding.
Uber, which allows people to book taxis through an app on their smartphone, already operates in London and has branched out to Birmingham and other areas in the Midlands.
And while it has no immediate plans to come to Shropshire, councillors discussed the implications if it did.
The firm sub-contracts bookings which could lead to people in Shropshire booking taxis provided by drivers not licensed by the county, but by another authority.
This means council officers could not take action against drivers licensed by another authority.
Speaking at yesterday's meeting, held in Shirehall, officer Paul McGreary said: "This is an example of where the legislation has not kept up with change in operational process.
"But it is not just an issue for Shropshire, is it is a national issue. It is something that does need to be picked up on a national level."
Many councillors raised concerns that the introduction of the firm into the county could have an impact on Shropshire's current drivers.
Councillor Joyce Barrow said: "I do think Uber will be a threat to our taxi drivers. I am mindful of this – is there protection in place for drivers in the area?"
Officer Karen Collier said that while the industry was an open market, from research carried out it appears many Uber drivers struggle to meet commission they must pay back to the firm with fees they take from customers.
She added that she believed the county's taxi drivers would be among the first to know should Uber start operating in the area, and that the council would be ready to respond if a request from the firm was made.
Mr McGreary added: "With a big geographical area like Shropshire, it is maybe more difficult to make the inroads in terms of profitability, but we will have to wait and see in terms of their ultimate aims. We are entering interesting times for taxi companies."
