Request ID: FOI-0420-2223 Date published: 15 June 2022
You asked
Could you please tell me how many ‘Complaints’ or ‘Safety issues and incidents‘ are reported to the TFL Taxi/Private Hire team in total through the online form annually?
Of these, how many are for:
Positive feedback
Route issues
Fares and payment issues
Dangerous driving
Unprofessional behaviour
Abusive behaviour
Other
And for each of these categories, what proportion are dealt with by the actions you mentioned (namely):
Noting a drivers licensing file
Issue of formal warning
Referral to licensing team
License suspension
License revocation
Finally, is it possible to find out how many ‘Complaints’ or ‘Safety issues and incidents‘ relate to Taxi/Private hire vehicles in the cycle box/Advanced Stop Lines?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-0420-2223/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 18 May 2022 asking for information about the number of ‘Complaints’ or ‘Safety issues and incidents‘ reported to the TfL Taxi/Private Hire team.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require.
Could you please tell me how many ‘Complaints’ or ‘Safety issues and incidents‘ are reported to the TFL Taxi/Private Hire team in total through the online form annually?
The total number of reports submitted using the online form in the financial year 2020/21 was 2046, and in 2021/22 was 3765.
Of these, how many are for:
Positive feedback Route issues Fares and payment issues Dangerous driving Unprofessional behaviour Abusive behaviour Other
We can provide the following breakdown of the issues reported that are the categories our system provides for customer complaints. Please note that positive feedback is not recorded under ‘Complaints’ or ‘Safety issues and incidents’. We do not have any cases logged under cycle box/Advanced Stop Lines.
FY20-21
FY21-22
Attitude/Rude Behaviour
57
140
Dangerous driving
361
764
Devious/Unplanned Route
48
123
Fare complaint
1
76
Fare Refusal
25
158
Fares Issue
30
3
Inappropriate Behaviour
451
748
Intimidating/Threatening Behaviour
102
202
Offensive Behaviour
31
62
Passenger behaviour
4
7
Poor/Dangerous Driving
52
4
Violent Behaviour
1
15
Total
1163
2302
And for each of these categories, what proportion are dealt with by the actions you mentioned (namely):
Noting a drivers licensing file Issue of formal warning Referral to licensing team License suspension License revocation
To provide the detailed information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
To answer this last question we would need to manually look into each complaint/report to see what action was taken. As shown above, there are over 3,000 reports, which would need to be located and cross referenced, which would take an excess amount of time.
We expect the highest of standards from all licensees and are always disappointed to learn when these have not been met. When we receive a complaint where a licensee can be identified, we will investigate and take appropriate licensing action.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
