Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: silverbullet on November 14, 2025, 06:49:37 pm
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(https://i.postimg.cc/7LQzkds9/UBER-PROTEST.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NymF8Jw2)
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Excellent but maybe needs better communication. I didn't find out about it myself until c.21:30 when I read a WhatsApp sent at 19:35 and that gave no indication of when the withdrawal of service was scheduled to commence, just said until 18:00 Sunday.
Whan I passed DAP on the way home, c.21:53, there was 106 drivers on the Uber queue and 130 on the Free Now Taxi Saver queue.
In any event we should do it every weekend until Fixed Fare Rides are withdrawn from Dublin. More drivers will probably become aware of the protest - and hopefully join in - as the weeks pass.
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Opt out of taxi saver and FF from Uber...no brainers
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The halfwits that queue to pay DAA - and prevent themselves from ever getting a rank permit - can't opt out, all Free Now DAP pickups are PUC free... and they pay DAA €3 per job on top of an annual permit fee out of their own pockets.
Properly organized withdrawals of service is a good idea. Maybe alternate between targeting Uber and Free Now on different weekends?
BTW, there was no notice of this weekend's withdrawal posted at Northside SC rank.
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https://x.com/Sutton1Mr/status/1989446009794265538?s=20
Be careful if yur workin coppers tonite ...
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Be careful if you're working tonight, period. Not great weather for driving.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/7LQzkds9/UBER-PROTEST.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NymF8Jw2)
Only seeing this now. I was putting my unusually busy Uber app down to the weather, and wondering why there was very little offered from FN, which is usually the much livlier one for me.
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Is that a protest for New York ?
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I'm working this morning and almost all Uber jobs are disappearing off the screen and getting covered..not many are are coming back around except the occasional fixed fare job. I dunno what impact this partial strike will have.It's very easy for the airport lads to strike when they'd be in the kesh most weekends mostly unaffected by an Uber stoppage.Same goes for the ambassador lads.Renters got to pay their bill too.
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Only seeing this now. I was putting my unusually busy Uber app down to the weather, and wondering why there was very little offered from FN, which is usually the much livlier one for me.
It wasn't well publicised IMO. Way back when I was marginally involved in organising protests we had a man on every rank. Flyers were handed out and posted on the ranks. I guess these days it's all social media. This is the message I received was at c.19:30 and I was working a busy shift so didn't read it 'till c.21:30 and it didn't have a start time. If subscribers to the biggest driver forum in the trade didn't know 'till the last minute what chance would a man who doesn't bother with any forms of social media or doesn't (electronically) socialise with other drivers have?
The one I got (below) says the dispute is official but doesn't indicate which (if any) of the unions made it official and/or what efforts have been made by the officials to negotiate a ceasefire, etc...
(https://i.postimg.cc/MG79Xw47/IMG-20251114-WA0007.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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I'm working this morning and almost all Uber jobs are disappearing off the screen and getting covered..not many are are coming back around except the occasional fixed fare job. I dunno what impact this partial strike will have.It's very easy for the airport lads to strike when they'd be in the kesh most weekends mostly unaffected by an Uber stoppage.Same goes for the ambassador lads.Renters got to pay their bill too.
48 hours might be too long for drivers who need to earn money and/or for the part-time weekend scum?
Drivers might not see the Fixed Fares as a huge issue yet. As MMW alludes to you can simply opt out or ignore the ones that don't suit you. €3 is the biggest hit I've taken on the few I've covered and that was on a €44 fare that took 19 mins 18 secs. I'm more annoyed about not being paid the full fixed fare when it's higher than the meter. If it's fixed it should be fucking fixed.
Free Now's Taxi Save rates are most likely costing drivers a lot more so far, particularly given that all Free Now DAP pickups are Taxi Saver and the drivers covering those have to pay the DAA fees (€10/year + €3/job) out of their own pockets on top of the 15% commission.
However, we know this is the the thin edge of the wedge, most likely a soft intro to get drivers used to the practice so it would be best to nip it in the bud if possible.
Of course, there is a far wider issue at play. We all know from our Rider accounts that you very rarely pay full fare with Uber or Bolt regardless of whether you select a metered rate or fixed fare option. At the moment my Uber Rider account has a "30% off" offer in play. This calls into question how much demand is really there at full (maximum permissible) NTA rates. While the discounts primarily constitute competition between rideshare platforms, any basic understanding of the price elasticity of demand tells us that we are dealing with demand that wouldn't exist in the absence of such competition.... definitely something the officials behind the protest need to understand in future strategising, IMO.
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In the light of my own ignorance of the protest, and a much busier Uber/quieter FN, it would appear that the protest had some impact, and was the lack of FN work appearing on my screen due to other drivers covering all the work, leaving very little for a driver with less stars?
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I saw a taxi protest on Tik tok the other day and at least 60% of the cars had ambassador stickers.Where was the protest when Freenow introduced taxi saver jobs?.Strange stuff.
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I'm down to Gold with Uber... you'd think Gold is good... good as Gold, maybe... but not so... without Platinum I often don't see more than one or two jobs a day.
With Free Now I seem to fluctuate between 25-30-45-50% of priority. Not sure how it works but at those levels most of what I see is Taxi Saver, of which I'll generally only cover those estimated at c.€30+
It's all manipulation... lose your rating and the only way to get it back (if you want it back) is to cover shite jobs.
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I saw a taxi protest on Tik tok the other day and at least 60% of the cars had ambassador stickers.Where was the protest when Freenow introduced taxi saver jobs?.Strange stuff.
Was out Wednesday in the pissing rain... got jobs up above to Dublin twice. No shortage of full fares / metered fares on both apps (Free Now and Uber) in the city yet the Taxi Saver and "Fixed" Fare offers were being snapped up... the mind boggles.
Do you get more points with those jobs or wha?
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Rc
"Do you get more points with those jobs or wha"
Don't think so, it's just lads are hungry for the work.I suspect many don't even check their job sheets to see what they're actually getting paid.If their weekly totals look ok they just say nothing.
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The halfwits that queue to pay DAA - and prevent themselves from ever getting a rank permit - can't opt out, all Free Now DAP pickups are PUC free... and they pay DAA €3 per job on top of an annual permit fee out of their own pockets.
Properly organized withdrawals of service is a good idea. Maybe alternate between targeting Uber and Free Now on different weekends?
BTW, there was no notice of this weekend's withdrawal posted at Northside SC rank.
The lads don't use apps because it interferes with their pension entitlements I hear.
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Is that a protest for New York ?
No. Ireland.
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The halfwits that queue to pay DAA - and prevent themselves from ever getting a rank permit - can't opt out, all Free Now DAP pickups are PUC free... and they pay DAA €3 per job on top of an annual permit fee out of their own pockets.
Properly organized withdrawals of service is a good idea. Maybe alternate between targeting Uber and Free Now on different weekends?
BTW, there was no notice of this weekend's withdrawal posted at Northside SC rank.
The lads don't use apps because it interferes with their pension entitlements I hear.
Have you booked your spot?
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The halfwits that queue to pay DAA - and prevent themselves from ever getting a rank permit - can't opt out, all Free Now DAP pickups are PUC free... and they pay DAA €3 per job on top of an annual permit fee out of their own pockets.
Properly organized withdrawals of service is a good idea. Maybe alternate between targeting Uber and Free Now on different weekends?
BTW, there was no notice of this weekend's withdrawal posted at Northside SC rank.
The lads don't use apps because it interferes with their pension entitlements I hear.
Have you booked your spot?
I don't use ranks, save for an occasional late night piss.
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All they need is a few drivers covering fixed fares to normalise them.I don't really buy the false sense of urgency that drivers have bills to pay.My bills are just as important as the next driver.Business isn't that bad yet.When it gets worse the fares will be discounted a lot more than they are now along with the increased commission and that's all you'll be offered or piss off home.Then you'll find yourself back behind the wheel doing an extra 20 hours a week because you couldn't think beyond the next tenner.I doubt many of us could put in extra hours at our age so we'll be gone first.
Can't wait for the whining like old times on the other forum.
https://youtu.be/4xmfP6y7s7c?si=88VEEqT3_kZ9DNFC
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All they need is a few drivers covering fixed fares to normalise them.I don't really buy the false sense of urgency that drivers have bills to pay.My bills are just as important as the next driver.Business isn't that bad yet.When it gets worse the fares will be discounted a lot more than they are now along with the increased commission and that's all you'll be offered or piss off home.Then you'll find yourself back behind the wheel doing an extra 20 hours a week because you couldn't think beyond the next tenner.I doubt many of us could put in extra hours at our age so we'll be gone first.
Can't wait for the whining like old times on the other forum.
https://youtu.be/4xmfP6y7s7c?si=88VEEqT3_kZ9DNFC
Wise as usual
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Is that a protest for New York ?
Thats a good point. very amateurish, could they not put a taxi in the picture that looks like an Irish taxi?
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I'm not sure how successful the weekend's protest was but, for me, it was a costly exercise. Compared to the previous 3 Saturday nights takings my average per hour dropped by €12, that's over 25%.
The only other rideshare platform that I currently have is Free Now. That was incredibly quiet, presumably with more drivers available more of the time as they were also boycotting Uber. At the start of my shift my progress towards becoming a Priority Driver was at 45%, by the end of the shift it was down to 15% so, for me, there's little or no light at the end of that particular tunnel. In fact, I spent most of my shift rejecting Taxi Saver jobs priced below €20... I lowered my threshold to €20 on account of the Uber dispute. The one Taxi Save job I covered was Northside SC rank (the mind boggles) to Swords for €21 plus, wait for it.... €4 tip... the mind can't stop boggling!
Having spent the guts of 8 hours watching other drivers snap up Taxi Saver jobs with estimates as low as €6 one must question where this protest is going and seriously reconsider any future participation. The biggest discount I've given on an Uber "Fixed Fare" ride is €3 on a €47 (€44 after discount) job that took 19 mins 18 secs. That's c.6% yet I elected to spend 8 hours earning a pittance while protesting in solidarity with drivers who are happily promoting discounts of up to 50%. It's a bit mad, Ted!
I understand that the spokesman for the protest group is, in fact, a Limousine driver from the real capital who has no difficulty offering fixed fare Taxis to clients of his own firm. Obviously, Uber is putting a lot of money into reducing it's Limousine fares as well as it's taxi fares for clients so I certainly understand the potential impact that may have on his business and I genuinely sympathise with him. There are many examples of multinationals muscling the small man out of business - look at how Screwfix gave stuff away when it came to Ireland and count the number of hardware stores gone as a result - but, at the end of the day, we all have our own interests to consider.
The biggest source of harm to my business at present is Free Now's Taxi Saver jobs. One has to question why tackling that isn't on Taxi Driver Ireland's agenda... In fact, as far as I can see, Taxi Drivers Ireland is actively encouraging our clients to choose Free Now (Taxi Saver). Does Free Now still offer a limousine service in Cork?
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You can opt out of that Taxi saver shite
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You can but that won't get the work back from the drivers covering it. You'll just be left wondering where all the work is gone. At least I could see my colleagues/competitors snapping it up while I was protesting about a few pennies discount on proper fares with guaranteed payment.
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
A judicial review about what? As long as they charge the meter or less, it's all a-ok. In fact, with inflation at 4% (?), it might be argued reduced fares are a good thing... for everyone else except us >:D
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
A judicial review about what? As long as they charge the meter or less, it's all a-ok. In fact, with inflation at 4% (?), it might be argued reduced fares are a good thing... for everyone else except us >:D
Well said Gabby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNC3OciAF3w (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNC3OciAF3w) 8)
(https://i.postimg.cc/T3hCNVs0/Gabby.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
A judicial review about what? As long as they charge the meter or less, it's all a-ok. In fact, with inflation at 4% (?), it might be argued reduced fares are a good thing... for everyone else except us >:D
Maybe to consider testing the constitutionality of Taxi Regulation Act 2013 Part 3 Section 19 Subsection (2) Part (d) which requires NTA:
to encourage and promote competition in relation to services (including fares) offered by small public service vehicles;
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
A judicial review about what? As long as they charge the meter or less, it's all a-ok. In fact, with inflation at 4% (?), it might be argued reduced fares are a good thing... for everyone else except us >:D
Maybe to consider testing the constitutionality of Taxi Regulation Act 2013 Part 3 Section 19 Subsection (2) Part (d) which requires NTA:
to encourage and promote competition in relation to services (including fares) offered by small public service vehicles;
Interesting, 'Twould be worth a try if'n one had the motivation, and supporters to fund it.
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If you bought that it's definitely a runner... Half the boys on the protest won't be able to speak ENGLISH FFS!
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I'm hearing they're going to stage a slow drive or some such up above in Dublin on Saturday afternoon... might be a judicial review in the offing... bring yisser wallets!
A judicial review about what? As long as they charge the meter or less, it's all a-ok. In fact, with inflation at 4% (?), it might be argued reduced fares are a good thing... for everyone else except us >:D
Maybe to consider testing the constitutionality of Taxi Regulation Act 2013 Part 3 Section 19 Subsection (2) Part (d) which requires NTA:
to encourage and promote competition in relation to services (including fares) offered by small public service vehicles;
2013 Act? Checks calender... is it not a bit late to challenge something from 12 years ago? And what's unconstitutional about competitive services (incl fares)? Tis the way of the world nowadays?
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The key word in that sentence is "consider". Legal opinion would be required to write the idea off... after a significant delay between the same and the whip round.
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It's all a bit late. Discounted fare are here and established. The apps have tried various 'come-on's' - no PUC's, discount off 1st fare, off-peak discounts etc etc but Uber have gone for the nuclear option with fixed fares and it's death by a thousand cuts.
Say a fare is €10 for example. They'll knock a euro off that tenner each month until it's eventually a fiver. They have the budget to endure it but we don't. Our new cousins will have to take it because they have student loans and rent (house & taxi) to pay. And once they knock out Bolt, it'll just be the 2 American companies (Uber and Lyft) to rake in all the money. And when new saloon licences are issued (matter of time imho), the newcomers will never have known full fares so won't know what they're missing.
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I guess once the new men have to rent taxis those of us that own our own are going to hold an edge. Outside of that it mightn't be as bad as you think!
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In the long run, reducing fares is not good for them, this is now about achieving a critical mass of market share. The only long term plan when that has been achieved is commission increases.
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If we create a monopoly e.g. by getting rid of either Uber or Free Now commission will increase significantly and whichever is left will fill any gaps left by the other e.g. Limos in Cork.
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In the long run, reducing fares is not good for them, this is now about achieving a critical mass of market share. The only long term plan when that has been achieved is commission increases.
As someone else pointed out, it took Uber 13 years to make a (balance-sheet) profit in America. The original goal was to drop prices, eliminate human taxi drivers, and replace them with robo-taxis. That didn't go to plan but they still killed most of the traditional 'yellow cabs' across America. They can play the long game and make their money back once they have the monopoly. Now in America, nobody gets a taxi, they get an Uber and they pay a pretty penny for it. The drivers don't see it since the effective commission over there is now ~40%.
'Correlation does not imply causation' but ~30% of Americans have a 'gig' job (no safeguards) and about the same % live paycheck-to-paycheck. We should be careful to stick closer to Berlin than Boston! If not for ourselves, then our children and grandchildren...
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In the long run, reducing fares is not good for them, this is now about achieving a critical mass of market share. The only long term plan when that has been achieved is commission increases.
As someone else pointed out, it took Uber 13 years to make a (balance-sheet) profit in America. The original goal was to drop prices, eliminate human taxi drivers, and replace them with robo-taxis. That didn't go to plan but they still killed most of the traditional 'yellow cabs' across America. They can play the long game and make their money back once they have the monopoly. Now in America, nobody gets a taxi, they get an Uber and they pay a pretty penny for it. The drivers don't see it since the effective commission over there is now ~40%.
'Correlation does not imply causation' but ~30% of Americans have a 'gig' job (no safeguards) and about the same % live paycheck-to-paycheck. We should be careful to stick closer to Berlin than Boston! If not for ourselves, then our children and grandchildren...
Agreed watty .... except for the Berlin bit .... lads dont understand wat this is ....if drivers adopt these ff jobs ....they are volunteering to become uber drivers and ther income will be destroyed.....
Hopefully weel get some intervention by someone in Dail eireann but ther too busy supporting islamist terrorists an jailing teachers who wont say they .....
Our livelihood is now on the line an it is drivers who can either fix this or trow ther job away
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I wouldn't be relying on the Dail to help us - there's a reason the NTA, HSE etc exist - TD's don't want to do any work. If the Dail had any power, people of substance would be running for election. As it is, our current Taoiseach and ex-Minister for Finance write book reviews for the newspapers!
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If you bought that it's definitely a runner... Half the boys on the protest won't be able to speak ENGLISH FFS!
And that's just the Dubs! 8)