Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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sulav38
Posts: 21
Joined: 1 May 2019, 1:25pm

Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by sulav38 »

Hello ppl,

I was wondering if there is a way to identify Uber cars? What I notice is that many aggressive and dangerous drivers are private hire drivers or Ubers
(example here : https://bit.ly/2MsWBv9) but there is no way to confirm this. I tried to contact Uber but no replies. Would anyone know if there is anyway to confirm this? or are these firm required by law or regulation to disclose this information to public? Help me out please. Not personal details but just licence plate.
Steve
Posts: 388
Joined: 2 Apr 2007, 1:42pm

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by Steve »

I think private hire cars, including Uber, all display a licence plate - doesn't that provide the information you need ?
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Yellow plates front and rear with reg no, car model and colour, max passengers and private hire licence no.
tim-b
Posts: 2091
Joined: 10 Oct 2009, 8:20am

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by tim-b »

Hi
You can check if the vehicle is private hire here... https://tph.tfl.gov.uk/TfL/lg2/TPHLicensing/pubregsearch/home.page?menuId=5 and you can check MOT and tax status here... https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ViewVehicle You only need the reg number
You can then complain to TFL about any vehicle / driver / operator
Regards
tim-b
~~~~¯\(ツ)/¯~~~~
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by thirdcrank »

I've been slow to answer this because of the cryptic title.

Assuming a vehicle's registration details are up-to-date, the reg plates only lead to the registered keeper, of course, who may not be the driver.

It's possible to get the details of the registered keeper of a vehicle from the DVLA. The police do it all the time and others, such as private parking enforcers do it too. They don't give the info out willy-nilly: you need a satisfactory reason.
https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla
As a private person, I cannot think of any guaranteed way you could get the details of a driver, which is presumably what you want. The police get driver info by requiring the reg keeper to provide it. Private parking enforcers word their T&Cs in such away that they can extract their gelt from the reg keeper without identifying the driver in most cases. In anticipation of the usual foaming from the mouth provoked by the parking charges info, here's the link
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/201 ... /4/enacted
millimole
Posts: 909
Joined: 18 Feb 2007, 5:41pm
Location: Leicester

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by millimole »

Steve wrote:I think private hire cars, including Uber, all display a licence plate - doesn't that provide the information you need ?
Depending on your local authority the private hire plate may (I say may) give you a clue.
The licencing regulations of some or many authorities preclude Uber style private hire (don't ask, I don't know) so you will find that an Uber car may well have private hire plates from a distant authority - round my way they are all Wolverhampton.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.
Leicester; Riding my Hetchins since 1971; Day rides on my Dawes; Going to the shops on a Decathlon Hoprider
PT1029
Posts: 1744
Joined: 16 Apr 2012, 9:20pm

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by PT1029 »

Thanks for the https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ViewVehicle link, I was aware of such a thing but never looked to find it.

I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have a car, so looked out of the window for a number plate, only 1 neighbours car visible, so I put that in. Oh dear, it's un taxed!!
As they have just moved house, and the tax is only 1 month expired, I'll put it down to late domestic admin work while sorting the house out (MOT has 11 months to run), and so avoid an embaressing conversation with my new neighbour!
9494arnold
Posts: 1208
Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 3:13pm

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by 9494arnold »

I am a Taxi Licensing Enforcement Officer.

Any Uber needs to be Licensed by a Local Authority or Transport For London.
TFL only have something that looks like a Tax disc to identify it as a Private Hire . Majority of others have a plate on the back that should tell you where it's Licensed, the reference number and seating capacity.
Licensing mostly under terms Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act.

We can sanction drivers by reporting to a group of Councillors (if it's Licensed in our area) with sufficient evidence.
Problem is it's often a "he said she said" (e.g.: You say he swore, he says he didn't ) and although we work to Civil burden of proof (Balance if Probabilities) rather than Criminal Burden of Proof (Beyond reasonable doubt) without a truly independent third witness we wouldn't proceed. Allegations if dangerous driving are referred to the Police in the first instance.
We pass complaints about outside licensed drivers to the relevant team .

Taxi Licensing used to be quite parochial, each authority had it's own Licensing Team. And Private Hires used to stay fairly local.
Then there was a piece of Legislation , the Deregulation Act. That pretty much opened a bit of a minefield . Wolverhampton Council play fast and loose with the Legislation (in my opinion) and have taken quite a bit if cash in Licence fees by undercutting other authorities . That's why you see Wolverhampton Licensed Vehicles all over the country.
Wolverhampton Council us Bankrupt according to Local Newspapers. You can draw your own conclusions about their Taxi Licensing Stance and Cash generation (Taxi Licensing cash should only be spent on Taxi Licensing: Stated Court Case a few years ago now.
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Uber Licence plates - Can you get them?

Post by thirdcrank »

PT1029 wrote:Thanks for the https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ViewVehicle link, I was aware of such a thing but never looked to find it.

I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have a car, so looked out of the window for a number plate, only 1 neighbours car visible, so I put that in. Oh dear, it's un taxed!!
As they have just moved house, and the tax is only 1 month expired, I'll put it down to late domestic admin work while sorting the house out (MOT has 11 months to run), and so avoid an embaressing conversation with my new neighbour!


The requirement for taxation depends on where the car is parked. It only needs to be taxed if it is kept or used on a road maintained at public expense. However, since the introduction of the requirement for continuous taxation, if a vehicle is untaxed and kept off the road, then the registered keeper must complete a statutory off road notification (SORN) When the vehicle excise duty is about to expire, the registered keeper gets an official reminder about this so it takes a bit more than a bit of absentmindedness to overlook it. Obviously, if they have moved and not notified their change of address, they may not get the notification.
https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn

Inevitably, there all sorts of exceptions.
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