Starting October 1st.
I am pretty shocked, the UK as we know with how broadband is regulated by ofcom is very heavy a competition economy. Yet this decision has removed an innovator that was shaking up the taxi industry.
I am a heavy user of taxis and can give an idea how much better uber is.
I used to use citylink in Leicester for most journeys, typically you would need to book at least 2 hours in advance to be sure of a slot, and if it was during busy times, you could expect it to be late, but not know how much its late as was common practice for the operator to lie to me on the phone "just round the corner mate", 10 mins later still no taxi
I needed cash on hand to pay the drivers, and had no record of journeys unless asking for a receipt which typically was price written on a card with the taxi branding on it.
Uber, I book using my phone on the app, its a transaction that is fully automated, everytime I have made a booking its been accepted by a driver within 5 seconds. Never ever waiting, maybe 10% of the time the taxi driver is doing a dropoff, but that dropoff is close to me on their way to me, so in those situations is maybe a delay of 1-2 mins at the most. The drivers are always my side of town and usually within 5 streets when accepting the job. I can track them on GPS so know where they are, and if I know they coming from the wrong way to pick me up on the side of the road I am on, I can cross the road in advance ready as well. Payment is automated no cash needed.
I also get every 11th journey free on a barclaycard offer. For me the cost is on average about 10% down, what I would used to spend, plus another 10% for the offer so maybe 20% saving although occasionally there is surge charging which makes it expensive, for me the gain is how much more convenient and reliable the service is versus a traditional taxi service.
Uber also allows you or the driver to contact each other should there be a problem with the taxi driver finding you.
The drivers I have chatted to, prefer it as well, most of them used to work for the traditional firms and are working full time for uber. They e.g. now get guaranteed payment as its automated, they can accept jobs near where they are, whilst a normal taxi firm could make them travel across town to their next job. They can log off the system whenever they want so the hours are basically flexible.
Just signed the petition which has only been up for a matter of hours and is fast heading to the million mark already.