Reminder about plying for hire

Only licensed Hackney Carriage drivers are permitted to ply or stand for hire. Plying or standing for hire means carrying a passenger to their destination for cash without there being a prior booking in place. 

It is a criminal offence for anyone without a Hackney Carriage licence to do this. If a private-hire driver carries a passenger without a prior booking, this is likely to result in Legal action and you will lose access to the Uber app.

Here’s how you can avoid situations where you may be plying for hire. 

A trip auto-cancels but then the rider turns up just afterwards and asks you to bring them ‘off app’ for cash to their intended destination as they are in a rush. 

What to do:

Advise the rider that they must book another trip via the application to go to their intended destination. The rider may be paired with you or another driver in the area at the time. You must never continue with a journey if the trip has auto-cancelled, and you should never take cash – Uber is a cashless platform in the UK. 

A rider’s trip completes at their intended destination, and they then ask you to bring them to another destination ‘off application’ for cash.

What to do:

Advise the rider that they must book another trip via the application to go to their intended destination. The rider may be paired with you or another driver in the area at the time. You must never continue with a journey once the trip has been marked as completed, and you should never take cash – Uber is a cashless platform in the UK. 

A rider accidently cancels the trip at the pick-up, and asks you to bring them to their destination ‘off app’ for cash as they are in a rush. 

What to do:

Advise the rider that they must book another trip via the application to go to their intended destination. The rider may be paired with you or another driver in the area at the time. You must never continue with a journey once the trip has been cancelled, and you should never take cash – Uber is a cashless platform in the UK. 

A rider accidently cancels the trip, mid-trip. The rider asks you to continue ‘off app’ to their intended destination for cash.

What to do:

Pull in where it is safe to do so, and advise the rider they must re-book via the application. The rider may be paired with you or another driver in the area at the time. If the rider is paired with another partner-driver, make sure that you let the rider off in a safe place where they can meet the next partner-driver assigned to their trip. You must never continue with a journey once the trip has been cancelled, and you should never take cash – Uber is a cashless platform in the UK.   

You are parked at the side of the road having a break and a person approaches your car and asks if you will take them to their destination for cash.

What to do:

Advise the person that all bookings must be made through the Uber app and that there is no guarantee which driver or vehicle may be assigned to their booking. You should not assist them with using the app in any way. You must never transport a passenger for cash unless they have made a booking through the Uber app.

You are driving around waiting for a trip request and a person waves at your car. You pull over and wind down the window, and the person asks if you will take them to their destination for cash.

What to do:

Advise the person that all bookings must be made through the Uber app and that there is no guarantee which driver or vehicle may be assigned to their booking. You should not assist them with using the app in any way. You must never transport a passenger for cash unless they have made a booking through the Uber app.