Changes to where drivers can receive trips

In 2018, we are making some changes that we hope will help us work better in the cities we operate in. This decision will affect some drivers more than others and we have been in touch with those who will be most impacted.

These changes will take place from Wednesday, 14 March 2018. We will be introducing these changes to where drivers can receive trips, based on where they hold their licence.

From Wednesday 14 March, drivers will still be free to choose where they want to drive, however, drivers will only be able to receive requests from the Uber app in the region in which their licensing authority is. The location of your driver’s licence will allow you to drive in one of 9 regions in England and Wales. We’ve outlined the major cities within each region below.

North East

North West

Yorkshire

Midlands

East of England

South East

South West

Greater London

Wales

For example, if a driver has a TfL private hire licence, but does the majority of their driving with Uber in Birmingham, they will have to get a private hire licence from a council in the Midlands to continue driving with Uber in and around this area.  

Some local authorities–who are responsible for giving us our operator licences–have told us that the way the app works can make it hard for them to do their job. They have said that it can be difficult for them to oversee what private hire drivers are doing in their jurisdiction, particularly when they are licensed in another part of the country. We hope that this change will help to make us a better and more responsible presence in cities.

The few drivers who will be affected by our decision have received an email from us. We understand that this is a big change and we are here to support them every step of the way.

We are providing them with more information about the change, talking them through the relicensing process and answering their questions and concerns. We are also supporting affected drivers in the following ways:

Dedicated application support

Our team is dedicated to supporting drivers through the process of getting a new licence. More information about relicensing can also be found here.

Help from Experts
Drivers can head into their local Greenlight Hub for help. We will also be getting in touch with affected drivers over the phone over the coming days.

You can find your Greenlight Hub opening hours here.