Union calls for London private hire licence cap and stronger TfL ridehail app regulation
- Perry Richardson
- May 8
- 2 min read
Updated: May 9
The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) has called on the London Assembly Transport Committee to strengthen Transport for London’s (TfL) Private Hire Action Plan ahead of a key evidence session next week.
ADCU representatives will appear before the Committee on 15 May to highlight concerns over unregulated private hire licensing and the impact it is having on drivers across the capital.
With nearly 100,000 private hire vehicles currently operating in London, the union argues that the absence of a cap is leading to falling driver earnings, rising congestion and undermining environmental targets. ADCU General Secretary Zamir Dreni said that urgent steps are needed to prevent further damage to both the workforce and the city’s infrastructure.
Among the union’s key demands is a cap on the number of private hire vehicle (PHV) licences issued in the capital. Dreni said unchecked growth in the sector is putting pressure on driver pay and worsening road conditions.
The union is also urging TfL to enforce mandatory data sharing between app-based platforms such as Uber and Bolt and both drivers and regulators. They say this would bring more fairness and transparency to the sector and help improve working conditions.
ADCU is calling for action on employment status too. The union argues that many drivers are wrongly treated as self-employed and lack basic protections. It wants the Committee to back stronger provisions in the upcoming Employment Bill to deal with what it describes as “bogus self-employment”.
The evidence session follows recent action by the union, which secured temporary licensing arrangements for drivers affected by TfL delays. While some parts of the Action Plan, including measures to tackle cross-border hiring, have been welcomed by the union, Dreni says the plan remains weak on long-term commitments.
Dreni said: “We need a licence cap now. Unlimited numbers of vehicles on the capital’s streets is bad for drivers’ earnings, bad for congestion, and bad for the air that we breathe. Given the plan’s heavy focus on reducing the industry’s environmental footprint, it makes no sense for there to be no provision in the plan for tackling the over issuing of licences.”
While the ADCU has welcomed some of the steps in the plan, including pledges to address cross-border hiring, and to mandate data sharing, Dreni and his members want to see this extended to app companies the drivers work for. He said: “At the moment drivers have no visibility of either the algorithm the app companies use, nor the data, which makes it impossible to work out whether a job is going to be financially viable or not. We want to see Bolt and Uber being mandated to share data with drivers and with TFL, for full transparency, and a fairer deal for drivers struggling to make ends meet.”
Dreni added: “The root cause of many of the problems being faced by our drivers - the unpaid waiting time, the risk of instant dismissal without any right to appeal if a passenger makes a complaint, the static earnings and mileage rates - is the bogus self-employment being forced on them by the app companies. Yet there is nothing in the Employment Rights Bill on tackling this, denying our members worker status and ensuring their continued exploitation by the app companies.”
