Our Ref:         FOI-1475-2021

Thank you for your email received on 30 October asking for information about licensing action we have taken.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for the following information:

The number of Private Hire drivers having their private hire licence revoked or suspended for fraudulent login of operator application since 28/09/20.

If a licensed driver registered with an operator logs on to the operator application then logs off at a certain location, then subsequently there is an attempt (in a short timeframe) to login to that drivers account at a different location significantly away from the original log off location, the operator may deem this as a fraudulent login. The suspicion being the licensed driver has passed login details to another (Unidentified) driver. In this instance an operator may dismiss that licensed driver and inform TfL by way of a PHV/105 notification.

I would be obliged if you would provide me with the number of drivers that have been revoked or suspended by TfL for this specific issue.

I would be obliged if you would inform me, breakdown of which operators the drivers were registered with (at the time of revocation/suspension reason)

Licensed private hire operators must notify TfL, as the licensing authority, in writing if they have had cause to dismiss a driver because of his or her unsatisfactory conduct. We provide form PHV/105 (http://content.tfl.gov.uk/driver-dismissal-phv-105-january-2018.pdf) for this purpose.

In the timeframe requested, since 28 September 2020, we revoked 16 private hire driver licences following receipt of a PHV/105 notification of driver dismissal form submitted by a licensed private hire operator indicating alleged activity that is analogous with your request. On each occasion, the form was submitted by Uber London Limited which noted concerns regarding the multiple use of its platform. There are no current licences that have been suspended for this reason.

When determining which licensed private hire operator the driver was ‘registered with’, we have taken this to mean the operator(s) that submitted the driver dismissal. It is important to note that drivers may be available to work for multiple private hire operators at any given time.

If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.

If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]