As Uber loses London license, new taxi app looks to disrupt the status quo

The loss of Uber’s London license has highlighted the need for a taxi revolution – and one new app has developed a smart solution which gives both taxi operators and taxi drivers the tools they need to operate with fairness and autonomy.

Currently, private hire drivers will serve their local community via an operator, where they will pay a fixed weekly rental fee in exchange for receiving fares. The operator provides each driver with a device which displays the fare for each specific journey.

While this has been the status quo within the industry for decades, the demise of Uber shows that there is a real need for a fairer system for drivers while giving choice, convenience and reliability to passengers and allowing operators to use their resources to optimum levels.

When business is slow, drivers are still required to pay rental fees. Passengers only have access to the taxis that operators have out on the streets at any given time – meaning they may have to call multiple operators during busy periods to get from A to B.

Mytaxio is a next-generation taxi booking app which solves these issues. It is calling for operators and drivers to join together to change the industry for the better. The innovative cloud-based solution gives drivers and customers apps and operators a program to connect to both. Operators benefit from lower operating costs, no expensive tech updates and additional revenue streams. Taxi drivers have a smart, in-car PDA which operates from their smartphone and allows them to earn commission on referrals. The system is inexpensive and allows drivers and operators to be independent but still be part of a wider community. It is designed to complement existing systems and apps, rather than replace them – the passenger simply requests a ride and the nearest driver accepts. The app shows the passenger who’ll be driving them and what it will cost, with rewards for future journeys.

Unlike Uber, Mytaxio wants to collaborate with all local operators and drivers to create a wider network to improve the customer’s experience and reward all parties with their loyalty in the form of future discounts on rides.

Patrick Holm, Managing Director of Mytaxio, said “Before we began to develop the Mytaxio app, we discovered that the pricing structure of the taxi industry in the form of driver rental charges has been fixed for years. A lack of innovation paved the way for Uber and others to enter the market and provide a better experience to the customer. These cloud-based companies have been allowed to charge booking fees and surcharges to the client as one big private hire company, thus putting honest local operators out of business.

“Using our knowledge of the industry, the needs of drivers and expectations of users, we created a wide range of features including the ability to earn extra commission, a driver rating function that rewards excellent service and the ability for them to grow their customer base. We’ve developed a system that gives passengers convenience and choice, allows operators to access a wider network to grow their business and drivers a chance to scale up their income.”

To find out more about Mytaxio and to download the free driver app, visit https://mytaxio.com/