Transport minister bats away MP question to cap Uber-style commission fees
- Perry Richardson
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The Government has ruled out plans to regulate commission fees charged by large national private hire vehicle operators, saying the amounts deducted from drivers’ fares are a matter of private contract rather than transport regulation.
In a written parliamentary response, Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said there were no current proposals to intervene in the service fee or commission structures used by private hire platforms, despite growing concern from drivers over rising deductions from journeys.
The statement came after Labour MP Elsie Blundell, who represents Heywood and Middleton North, asked whether the Secretary of State for Transport planned to regulate the commission charged by major PHV operators and drawn directly from drivers’ earnings.
Greenwood, responding on behalf of the Department for Transport, said: “Subject to any obligations under employment law, the commercial terms under which drivers and operators contract are a matter for those parties.”
Transport minister says service charges between drivers and large private hire operators are a commercial matter
The response confirms once again that responsibility for addressing commission levels sits outside the DfT’s current taxi and private hire reform agenda, despite ongoing debates around driver earnings, platform power and the sustainability of app-based operating models.
Large PHV platforms typically deduct anywhere up to 50 percent of each fare as a service fee, although drivers’ groups argue that effective commission can be higher once booking fees, dynamic pricing mechanisms and incentive clawbacks are taken into account. Operators maintain that the charges reflect technology costs, marketing spend, insurance, compliance support and passenger demand generation.
The Government’s position aligns commission levels with broader employment and competition frameworks rather than transport-specific oversight. Any challenge to fees would therefore fall under employment law, competition law or contractual disputes, rather than licensing regulation overseen by local authorities.
The issue has become increasingly prominent as fuel costs, vehicle finance, insurance and licensing expenses continue to rise, placing pressure on driver margins. Industry bodies and unions have repeatedly called for greater transparency around fare setting and commission structures, arguing that drivers often have limited bargaining power when operating on dominant platforms.
However, ministers have so far focused taxi and private hire reform discussions on safety, safeguarding, accessibility and licensing standards, including cross-border hiring and national minimum standards, rather than commercial pricing models.
Greenwood’s response suggests that, for now, the Government is unwilling to intervene in how private hire operators structure their business models, leaving commission levels to be shaped by market forces and legal frameworks outside the transport brief.
