A London cab driver’s wife has launched a £600,000 crowdfunding campaign to take on cab-hailing app Uber’s license in the courts.
Artemis Mercer’s Action for Cabbies group wants a judicial review of the licence granted to the company in 2012 by Transport for London (TfL).
She claims that TfL followed incorrect procedures and has since failed to enforce the law on issues including background checks and disabled access.
Her group said the radical action was needed to “save the iconic black cab trade and the future of 25,000 cabbies, their families and associated industries.”
She said: “When Transport for London granted Uber a license in 2012, it became a law maker instead of the law enforcer it should be.
“We have launched this fundraising to help save our iconic black cab industry and to protect passengers from a woefully inadequate third tier system Transport for London created and that has blurred the line for all taxi regulation.”
The app has shaken up the capital’s taxi service since it was launched and led to a string of protests by London black cab drivers.
But last October, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association were dealt a blow when a High Court judge dismissed their claim that Uber was breaking the law in the way it calculates fares.
However, Ms Mercer warned: “When you travel in a black cab, your driver has invested three to four years in training at their own expense – that’s why black cabs are voted the best taxi service in the world.
“Transport for London has got it badly wrong. Unless action is taken to enforce the law, the black taxi industry will be decimated and the iconic black taxi extinct.”
The Evening Standard has approached Transport for London and Uber for a comment.
