Richard Branson comments on Uber and looks at setting up an alternative

Richard Branson says that Taxi drivers must ‘accept that there is a new model in the industry and says that one day his company ‘may set up an alternative’

The billionaire says that his company should be competing with the likes of Airbnb and Uber, adding that ‘it is ridiculous how well Uber is run’ and that ‘you cannot stop progress and can’t turn the clock back’.  Sir Richard was an early investor in Uber, and has also put money into their rival Hailo. Hailo have only recently announced that they have moved away from supplying Private hire vehicles to after much outrage from London’s Black Taxis. He has spoken many times about the benefits of disrupting a market ‘that has remained unchanged for many years’

Uber has been banned in a number of cities across the world over fears that it is anti-competitive, as this allows drivers to charge lower fares than traditional cabs.

It is believed that Transport for London is currently considering proposals that would hit Uber hard, among these proposals is thought to be a minimum wait-time of five minutes between ordering a minicab and it arriving, and a requirement that operators must not show vehicles being available for immediate hire either by sight or via an app.  Currently Uber matches it’s passengers with drivers in their immediate vicinity, showing availability on its app, and on average users wait three minutes for a car, so both these proposals would be a blow to them.

Uber has reported that this crackdown could cost it’s drivers a total of £19m per year.