Private-hire drivers struggling over TfL glitch

Drivers are being made homeless and facing financial hardship because a technical glitch has caused their private-hire licence renewals to be delayed.

A new licensing system by Transport for London (TfL) is experiencing issues which is impacting the processing times of licence renewals or updates.

The App Drivers and Couriers' Union (ADCU) said the delays were leading to drivers having their cars repossessed and pushing them into debt, and are calling for temporary licences to be issued while the problems are resolved.

TfL has apologised, and said it was working to resolve any urgent licensing issues.

Uber driver Abdullahi, who did not want to give his surname, said he had been made homeless after TfL failed to renew his private-hire licence.

He said he had applied for his licence renewal four months ahead of its expiry on 11 February. He is still waiting for it to be processed.

"This is our livelihoods, it's how we support our families," he said.

He said without the income from driving, he was unable to keep up with his rent payments and subsequently evicted.

Abdullahi added he was unable to support his daughter, who is living with his mother, and that he was currently sleeping in a mosque.

"Tonight I'm not sure where I'm going to sleep," he said.

Muddassar Iqbal said he applied for his licence badge renewal ahead of its expiry on 15 February but still has not heard when he will receive it.

"I have a family, car insurance and car finance - this is a very hard time," he said.

Mr Iqbal and Abdullahi told BBC London they have contacted TfL several times about the issue but they feel ignored.

Zamir Dreni, general secretary of the ADCU, told BBC London the union had been receiving more than 200 calls per day from "desperate drivers".

He said his union was helping more than 340 drivers who were having issues with their private-hire licence renewal.

The IWGB union, which also represents private-hire drivers, said last month it had heard from more than 500 drivers affected by the delays.

"In all my years of being in private hire I've never seen it as bad as this," said Mr Dreni.

The union leader added many of his members have had cars repossessed as drivers have been unable to keep up with finance repayments.

Drivers held a protest, organised by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), outside TfL headquarters in Stratford, east London, on Wednesday.

Alex Marshall, the union's president, said the licence delays were "tearing through peoples' lives who are unable to work for days, weeks, months".

"All over here and from TfL at the moment is thought they're trying as hard as they can, they're apologising, but they are also trying to blame drivers which is completely unacceptable," he added.

"There is no other job you can think of where there's this kind of bureaucratic nightmare that is leaving people out of work."

In a statement, TfL said: "We have recently introduced a new licensing system which has delivered a number of benefits to licensees, including the ability to track their applications online.

"Unfortunately we have experienced some issues which have impacted our processing times, compounding the difficulties we experienced following the cyber incident last year."

The spokesperson said TfL was working with the system provider to "rectify any system issues" and increase the number of licencing staff.

They added: "The vast majority of drivers have been unaffected, however we are aware 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 and are working to resolve any urgent licensing issues."

An Uber spokesperson said: "We are aware of the issue and are having ongoing discussions with both Transport for London and affected drivers."

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