TfL grants temporary licenses to drivers caught in computer chaos

Transport for London has granted temporary three-month licenses to drivers whose applications were delayed by the failure of its new computer licensing system.

The move comes after protests from trade unions, who claimed that drivers were being placed under undue financial pressure through no fault of their own. TfL has apologised for the delays and has also postponed a proposed increase to the licensing fees. This will now be discussed on July 14.

The App Drivers and Couriers’ Union (ADCU) said the delays had led to some drivers having their cars repossessed. ADCU 

general secretary Zamir Dreni said: “There can be no further delays in the issuing of these emergency licences. Our members are desperate and it has to happen now.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “The vast majority of the 123,000 drivers we license are unaffected by the glitch. However, we are aware that some drivers are affected and regrettably this has led to some drivers being unable to continue working. We apologise to these drivers and are working hard to resolve the issues and have increased the number of licensing staff who are processing and issuing licences.”

“In recognition of the current situation, we will be granting short-term private hire driver licenses for a period of three months in cases where a complete application has been submitted and there are no issues that require further investigation.”

But the Independent Workers od Great Britain union (IWGB) said the temporary licenses would not be given to all drivers. In a statement, IWGB said: “Drivers whose cases are stuck with Occupational Health are currently not being considered for short-term licenses, and TfL have offered no solution to this bottleneck.”

“The short-term licenses will also not address problems faced by drivers who are currently experiencing DBS issues. The short-term licences will only be issued to drivers who have passed SERU and the English Language Test. And, given TfL’s incompetence, we know we will need to keep holding their feet to the fire to ensure the proper implementation of these short-term licences.”

TfL had planned to discuss a 10% increase in license fees for drivers on April 9, as well as a proposal to hike the assessment fee from £16 to £30.

ADCU’s Zamir Dreni called on TfL’s finance committee to vote down the rises. He said: “TfL cannot seriously be planning to heap more misery on drivers by increasing licence fees, when they are not even managing to reissue licenses to drivers within a reasonable timeframe. TfL should be asking the app-based companies and platform operators to bear the brunt of price increases, not hard-pressed drivers. There has been no increase for operators since 2016, but every single year the price for drivers goes up.”