Taxi drivers to bring Dublin to standstill with protest against Uber maximum fare option

About a third of Ireland’s more than 17,000 taxi drivers make use of Uber to source fares. Picture: iStock

Taxi drivers are set to bring Dublin to a standstill at rush hour on Thursday as part of an ongoing protest against a new feature introduced by Uber which they say will decimate their income.

Some 1,500 taxi drivers are set to engage in a ‘slow drive’ at three strategic points — Dublin Airport, Clontarf, and Phoenix Park — from 4.30pm on Thursday, before converging on Government Buildings.

The action has been organised by a group of drivers across social networks like WhatsApp out of concern at Uber’s introduction of a maximum fare option at the beginning of November.

That option means that Uber-users agree a fare in advance of taking their trip. 

Should the meter read less than the agreed fare, the customer pays the lower price. 

If the meter is higher, due to adverse traffic or other factors, the passenger pays only the pre-agreed fixed fare.

Uber said the approach “has been shown to increase rider confidence and trip demand”. 

Uber said the approach 'has been shown to increase rider confidence and trip demand'.

About a third of Ireland’s more than 17,000 taxi drivers make use of Uber to source fares.

The drivers, who are not represented by any formal union body, are calling for the Government to intervene and update the existing regulations to outlaw what Uber has done.

“We said if we didn’t hear back we’d increase the severity of our protest. We haven’t heard back so we’re going to escalate,” David Mitchell, a Dublin-based driver and one of the protest’s co-ordinators, said of the planned two-hour protest.

We’re at a loss as to what else we should do. Nobody in this world can accept a minimum 30% decrease in what they’re earning.

He used the analogy of a publican cutting the price of a pint and his barman’s salary, before raising the price again but leaving the barman’s wage at the lower level.

“Find me one person who would accept that,” he said.

The Department of Transport previously deferred responsibility for the matter to the National Transport Authority (NTA), with Minister Darragh O’Brien saying on Tuesday that he had asked the NTA to examine the issue.

The NTA said it was powerless to intervene as Uber is not breaking any rules in doing what it is doing. Charging below the regulated maximum fare, set by the NTA, “is permitted”, a spokesperson said.

An Uber spokesperson said: “Riders are much more likely to book a trip if they know what the fare is going to be, creating more earning opportunities for drivers across Ireland. Before accepting a trip, drivers can see their estimated earnings and the route used to calculate this amount, which also includes factors like traffic and time of day.”

Enthusiasm for the protest is not universal. 

Bobby Lynch, a spokesperson for Cork Taxi Drivers who had previously called on the Taoiseach to intervene in the matter, said “we’d like to see the app companies regulated, because we are regulated”. 

“But you won’t see us out blocking the streets. That is madness,” he said.