FOI request detail

Private hire operator conditions

Request ID: FOI-1333-1819
Date published: 11 September 2018

You asked

Dear TFL/FOI As part of Uber London Ltd private hire licence conditions it is stated; ULL shall, within 48 hours of receiving a safety related complaint concerning a ULL driver: a. assess whether it is necessary to remove or suspend that driver account pending further inquiries; and b. notify any such decision to remove or suspend the driver to the licensing authority, including specifying the details of the driver and the allegation. Since the licence conditions were placed can you supply me the figure of how many notifications have been received by TFL as the licensing authority and if costs permit the nature of them notifications

We answered

Our Ref: FOI-1333-1819

Thank you for your request received on 11 August 2018 asking for information regarding the number of driver suspension/dismissals forms we have received from the private hire operator Uber London Ltd.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. 

I can confirm we hold the information you require, however to provide the 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 a request 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.

We received 341 notifications of driver suspension or dismissal from private hire operators between 25 June and 11 August 2018.

We have estimated that it would significantly exceed the cost limit to provide a breakdown of the notifications received from Uber specifically; in addition to the other information you have requested on the nature of the notifications.

This is because, when the forms are received, they are not categorised by which operator has provided the form, but are instead linked directly to the record for the driver that has been dismissed or suspended. Once this is determined and the information collated, we then review each case individually to determine what further action should be taken.

To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. You might also consider limiting your request to a shorter period of time.

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

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