Questions to the Mayor of London – answered at on 21 October 2019.
In your answer to question MQ 2019/4090 you stated: "whether or not a taxi is plying for hire through a smartphone app for example does depend on how the particular app works and the particular circumstances of individual cases." For the particular individual circumstances of the taxi apps: FreeNow, Gett and Bolt, do you class their app jobs as pre-booked or ply-for-hire?
As explained in Mayor's Question 2019/4090 this would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis and would depend on the specific circumstances.
As I also previously set out, whilst Transport For London regulates private hire operators, many of whom choose to offer app-based services, it does not regulate taxi app providers and to do so would require legislative change as there are no provisions within the current regulatory framework.
This was recognised by the Department for Transport-commissioned Task and Finish Group on taxi and private hire licensing. In the Government’s response, it noted that it was not minded to bring taxi apps into the licensing regime.