Limerick students celebrating 'Christmas Day' to be caught up in taxi drivers' Uber boycott

TAXI drivers are planning to switch off the Uber app this Wednesday, as thousands of students travel to the city centre for 'Christmas jumper day'.

Around 100 drivers are expected to take the action in protest at the operator's introduction of fixed prices, a measure they say leaves them out of pocket.

The University of Limerick (UL) Christmas jumper day will see thousands of students dress in festive attire to celebrate in pubs and clubs across the city before the December break.

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The action means students, or indeed anyone needing a taxi service on Wednesday, may face a delay being served through Uber.

Instead, drivers are advising people to telephone local taxi companies, flag down drivers, or use alternative ride-hailing apps.

"The jobs are going to start from 7am, 8am, 9am onwards. Please shut down your apps to show them the unity among all the drivers. At least for Wednesday. We start with one day," said city centre taxi driver Khoushhal Kakar, adding he believes there may be up to 20,000 students needing cabs.

Uber, which has its European head office in Limerick city centre, has introduced the new measure, it says, to end "meter anxiety" felt by passengers.

It means when a journey is requested, an upfront price is shown, rather than an estimated range of pricing. If the final price on the meter turns out to be lower than the maximum fare, customers pay that fare.

An Uber spokesperson says passengers are more likely to book a trip if they know what the fare will be "creating more earning opportunities for drivers across Ireland."

Nationally, the service has 6,000 drivers on its app. In Ireland, unlike in other territories, you need to be a qualified taxi driver to operate on the system.

There was a big turnout at a meeting of Uber drivers in Limerick on Monday night, at the car park of Castletroy Town Centre where it was agreed to take the boycott action.

Fianna Fail councillor Azad Talukder, who has been a cab driver for 18 years, says he will try and organise a meeting with his party colleague, Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien.

"We came together for only one reason. We need to support our families. In this situation, how Uber is doing this. Between when I began 18 years ago and today, it's a different game, a totally different game. That's why what I believe is, we have to make a proper plan to sit around the table," said the City West member.

Mr Kakar, who co-organised Monday night's meeting, added: "We are losing money here. We cannot feed our families. That is the reason more than 100 drivers are here tonight. Please stand up with us. This is not fair. Who decides what fares we can run in Ireland? Do these regulations come from the USA? No, we have our own Irish community. We have the NTA (National Transport Authority), we have taxi regulations, meter seals. We go through our regulations. But still someone else comes and tell us what we can charge? It's not the way we run business in Ireland."

Another taxi driver Badar Abbas, who lives in the city centre said: "If Uber is doing this, and the Government is saying they can do whatever they want, will FreeNow do it? Will Bolt do it? It means our Government is opening the doors, allowing Uber to do whatever they want to do."

He suggested if Wednesday's action doesn't bring change, they could protest at the offices of Limerick City and County Council, where Mayor John Moran - a former lobbyist for Uber - works.

Raza Naqvi from Cratloe said: "This needs to be sorted out as soon as possible. We have families, we pay big insurance. I tried to email the NTA, but they did not reply. We pay everything to the NTA, we pay licence fees, we pay whatever they look for. Where is the NTA to help us? Right now, we are struggling, and they make us strugle more unless they solve this problem."

Mr Kakar said prior to Uber's fixed price changes, drivers were able to add extra charges on top of the face value cost of the journey.

These would be based on the number of people in the car, as well as a booking fee.

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"For arguments sake, if you collect from Castletroy and go over to Icon or Black Rabbit, they would give us a fixed price of €12. We cannot add on a booking fee. We can't charge for extra passengers which are regulated by the NTA that we are allowed to. I have a six seater - If I have six passengers, I have to charge €5 extra plus the booking. That's €8 I am losing alone from Castletroy over to the town. They give us only €12 per job. But it's €18 on the meter. That's €14 per job you lose if you have a minibus," he said.

He added that over time and the number of journeys, the losses can mount up.

"That's the insurance money, that's the petrol money, that is my rent for the taxi. Nothing is cheap. The petrol, looking after the vehicle is expesive. Everything is way too expensive at the moement. We are professional licensed drivers. It's not like other countries where anyone with a car can pick up the Uber app and drive. We have passed our exams. We have gone through the chain of command. We are all background checked. We have paid a lot of money to go through that hassle. Why are they treating us like this," he asked.

In response to a query from Limerick Live, a spokesperson for Uber stated: "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, alongside factors like traffic and time of day, to calculate this amount."