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Hailo backs cabbies in battle with Uber as it ditches minicab service

Taxi app rescinds private hire licence amid proposals to clamp down on apps for hailing minicabs Hailo has transformed the taxi industry through the use of GPS technology and a proprietary algorithm for matching supply with demand By James Titcomb

3:19PM BST 01 Oct 2015


Hailo, the British app which allows its users to hail taxi cabs and private hire minicabs, is resigning its private hire licence in London and said it is putting its weight behind London's black cab industry.

The announcement comes in the same week that Transport for London proposed new rules for minicab firms that could threaten the existence of e-hailing apps such as Uber, although Andrew Pinnington, Hailo's chief executive, said the decision was coincidental.

Hailo's app allows its users to order both black cabs and private hire minicabs, unlike Uber, whose cars are classed as minicabs. Apps that allow users to order a minicab almost immediately have threatened London's highly-regulated black cab industry, and this week TfL announced a crackdown on such services, in a move that cabbies cheered and Uber said would threaten its operations in the capital.

Back to Black. Click to read a message to London's black cab trade from our CEO, Andrew. https://t.co/qAPFp8AVBh

— Hailo London Drivers (@HailoDriversLDN) October 1, 2015

Hailo began as an app that allows users to hail taxis but controversially branched out into minicabs last year, sparking protests from cabbies, some of whom branded it "Failo".

On Thursday, it U-turned, announcing that it would resign its private hire licence to make it fully a black-cab service once again.

TfL's proposals, which include a minimum five-minute wait time between ordering a minicab and it arriving, and a ban on showing available minicabs within an app, may have affected Hailo's minicab service. Uber has been attacked by taxi drivers, who say it is skirting the rules  Photo: Reuters

Pinnington said Hailo's decision was not made in response to TfL's proposed rules, although they "obviously change the landscape", and that the minicab part of Hailo's business was smaller than black cabs.

"Our original decision was met with a huge degree of controversy, and since then it’s felt like walking around in an ill-fitting suit," Pinnington said. "It didn’t feel like we were aligned with the market. This gives us a point of clarity and drivers will coalesce behind us more supportively."

Uber tends to work out significantly cheaper than a black cab, but Pinnington said there would still be huge demand for cabbies, and that he backed proposals that would allow the regulated trade to succeed.

By ditching minicabs and putting itself squarely on the side of black cabs, Hailo - which has attracted tens of millions in funding - is betting that the black cab industry has a healthy future as TfL launches a three-month consultation on its proposed rules.

"This ties the future of Hailo to the future of the black cab industry," Pinnington said. "We’ll be trying to balance the debate out. Competition sharpens everything up, but there are two sides to the debate."

TfL's proposals have been criticised since they emerged this week, with more than 100,000 people signing a petition in support of Uber.


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