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Posted on the 28th March 2025 in PHTM News
TFL APOLOGISES FOR LICENSING DELAYS LEAVING PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS STRANDED
Transport for London (TfL) has apologised for significant delays in its licensing system, which have left London drivers for apps such as Uber and Bolt, "drowning in debt and destitution" as a result of prolonged licensing delays, according to the IWGB union.
The delays, attributed to issues with a new online system, have caused substantial disruption, with some drivers waiting months for their licences.
IWGB says it has already heard from more than 500 drivers affected by the delays leaving some drivers unable to work for months at a time, leading them to take out loans, while others have missed payments on their mortgages.
TfL said it had "experienced some issues which have impacted our processing times, compounding the difficulties we experienced following the cyber incident last year".
It acknowledged the system issues, saying: "We are working closely with our system service provider to rectify any system issues and have increased the number of licensing staff who are processing and issuing licences."
While TfL maintains that the "vast majority of drivers" were unaffected, they admitted that "some drivers have been impacted, mainly those where we had requested that the driver provides missing or additional information necessary for making a licensing decision."
"This has led to some drivers being unable to continue working. We apologise to any driver that has been affected."
Kambiz Hemati, a private hire driver of 12 years who is waiting for his licence renewal, says he has paid £1,800 during the process so far, including for medical tests, a DBS check and the TfL fee.
He says: "I haven't been able to work for over a month. With no income I've had to borrow more and more money to keep up with my mortgage payments, my car instalments, my insurance.
"The frustrating thing is that even once TfL finally issues me with a licence, the nightmare won't end there - I'll have to work day and night for months to climb out of the debt I have accrued on account of TfL's disorganisation."
Private hire drivers in London are required to apply to TfL to renew their licences every three years.
IWGB says if a driver's renewal is not processed before their existing licence expires then "they are forced off the road".
The union argues that even those who applied and paid the £310 fee four months in advance "have now been cut off from their livelihoods for indefinite periods."
After a meeting last week with the transport authority, IWGB said that TfL had been co-operating to fast-track some of the urgent cases, and that at least 70 drivers had now received their licences as a result, but it added that "far too many drivers have still been left waiting".
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