The company had applied for a licence to operate in the city. A decision was put on hold earlier this week.
But earlier today we were informed that Uber will now be granted a private taxi hire operator’s licence by Brighton & Hove City Council.
The council says it is minded to grant a licence for a year from its launch date, yet to be announced.
Councillors on the panel have agreed Uber can operate initially for a year to test their commitment to meeting the city’s taxi service standards.
They would have to abide by all the conditions in the Blue Book – a set of guidelines for the local cab trade.
Going by Ubers past performance, they run roughshod over regulations, saying it's easier to seek forgiveness than permission.
Uber stated at a licensing committee meeting on Monday’s that they wanted to be treated the same as every other operator in the city. They would only be allowed to send Brighton & Hove-registered drivers to pick up customers.
Uber In Brighton: Taxi operators express much 'concern':
Other taxi operators shared their concern at Monday's meeting about the company operating on an un-level playing field.
However at this stage they were not able to provide detailed information about commencement dates and service details. Work on these could not start until the firm was certain they would obtain a licence.
All Uber drivers will have to hold the same licence as any other private hire driver, which includes a check by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), successor to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).
Uber representatives told the panel they were already licensed in 33 council areas in the UK, though not yet operating in all of them.
Panel chair Cllr Mo Marsh said: “We want Uber to compete on a level playing field by signing up to the terms of the Blue Book. They made a commitment to do that in public and this one-year permission will test the strength of that commitment.”
Perhaps Cllr Mo should have also insisted that each vehicle should carry hire and reward insurance as a protection to passengers and other third parties. Uber have already received fines in London for falling to oversee their "partners" ar fully insured.
Should be very interesting to follow this story, considering the homophobic views of many of Uber's drivers.
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