Anti-Uber protest under fire as Oxford council vows to investigate ‘Local Cab’ deal with 001 Taxis

A protest against Uber’s launch of its Local Cab service in Oxford has drawn criticism from 001 Taxis, the company that has been chosen to handle Uber bookings in the city.

A number of taxi drivers held a protest outside the town hall in the city. But Amir Khan of 001 Taxis said: “We do not believe that the recent protests in Oxford were anything to do with local taxi drivers, but rather were driven by an ulterior motive.”

Indeed, the protest was organised by Azmat Sherwani, who appeared on BBC News as the protest organiser, and was quoted in the Oxford Mail as head of a “Say No to Uber” campaign. But Sherwani is also head of Manchester-based sales agency business Dotted, which handles UK sales for Renault-owned dispatch systems supplier iCabbi.

Dublin-based iCabbi is the principal rival of Uber-owned Autocab, whose iGo system powers the Uber Local Cab service. iCabbi’s directors have been strongly critical of the Uber-Autocab deal, calling it “a trojan horse” for Uber to take business from the private hire and taxi trade.

Sherwani also held a similar protest at an August social event outside Autocab’s offices in Manchester, where he parked a mobile billboard van outside and led a noisy protest against the Uber takeover of Autocab. The protest did not appear to feature many taxi drivers, but included a group of young people who appeared to have been hired for the day. Sherwani refused to be interviewed at the protest, and eventually moved on after police were called.

In Oxford, the protest followed comments by Oxford City council deputy leader Tom Haynes, who said: “If a company as big as Uber isn’t prepared to put their own application into Oxford City Council and to have their own taxis licensed here that raises concerns for me… I’m concerned about Uber trying to get in to Oxford by the back door.”

Haynes later told the Oxford Mail: “It is our duty, as the licensing authority, to ensure that the taxi trade in Oxford operates according to the law, the legal guidance issued by the government, and our local policy that puts the safety of passengers first. We take this responsibility seriously and are investigating whether or not the relationship between Uber and 001 meets these requirements.”

However Uber’s European head Jamie Heywood told Professional Driver last year that Uber’s UK expansion going forward would involve it putting jobs out to local operators rather than opening new operations.

Speaking in August 2020, he said: “It’s been almost four years since we launched in a new city, and we currently have no plans to launch with our previous model in any more. I can see a world where almost all the future expansion with Uber, particularly in the UK, will be in partnership with local taxi and private hire companies.”

Uber’s purchase of Autocab allowed it to use Autocab’s iGo system to put jobs out to local firms. The system is being piloted in a number of towns and cities including Plymouth, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Bedford, where operators who have signed up are reporting increased business as a result.

During the Oxford protest, Sherwani told the BBC: “Nationally Uber have not been able to get a licence in many areas, so what they’ve done is they’ve purchased the largest technology provider in the taxi industry. What this has allowed them to do... is enter different areas without having a licence. They [Uber customers] will be arriving from London, but now they already have Uber downloaded and they’ll be using that – it’s going to have catastrophic effects on local drivers and local operators.”

However, 001 Taxis’ Amir Khan countered the claim, saying Uber’s move was benefiting local drivers who work for his company: “As a locally licensed operator and Oxford-based business we provide earning opportunities to many drivers who live in the area. By partnering with Uber we are able to provide more opportunities for drivers and more choice to the customers who book their trip with us through the Uber app. This model is the same as a local cab operator having a relationship with a local hotel who request a trip for their own guest.”

Ozayr Khan, managing director of 001 Taxis’ main local rival, Royal Cars, said he was not directly involved in the protest but was broadly supportive of its objectives. However, he added that the protest was more likely to promote Uber rather than affect it – indeed, Uber reported a spike in downloads of its app in the wake of the news coverage of Sherwani’s protest.

Ozayr Khan said most of the protesting drivers were hackney drivers, who were losing out at the railway station as Uber users arriving from London were booking via the App rather than taking a cab from the rank.

He said Royal Cars was losing business as a result of the Uber-001 deal, and his main concern was the level of marketing spend that Uber was able to leverage in the town: “Uber is using its war chest to fund advertising for the 001 Taxis link in Oxford, which is being advertised on bus stops.”