To the Departments and Ministers for Transport, HMRC and Department of Work and Pensions and all relevant associated bodies, Ministers and Committees 

We the undersigned Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) drivers  demand an immediate review into PHV fares and urgently request the Government and its Ministers to urgently and immediately work towards developing policy and framework to regulate PHV fares and working conditions. 

We request a measurable status quo in fare regulation akin to that of Hackney Taxi fares - who in essence perform the same function as a PHV driver in this Transport service industry yet have the gift of fare regulation by their local authorities. 

For far too long PHV fares have lacked behind a fair fare remuneration structure and drivers have been exploited unfairly by their operators. 
There is a culture of fare suppression and coercian within local PHV firms whereby local operators band together to prevent fare tarrif increases to the detriment of drivers. The world of unions has also failed its members in delivering a meaningful resolution to this situation after decades of exploitation of PHV drivers. 

Whilst counterpart employees in paid positions have recieved pay increases for over 25 years - in line with Government policies and National Minimum Wage legislation - they have failed the PHV paternity miserably who have been at the mercy of their operators as a PHV driver cannot contract directly with their users or negotiate their own fares. For all intents and purposes - the Principal operators also fail to increase fares in an economically unfair balance where they continually adjust their own commissions while motoring and cost of living crisis continue to drive PHV drivers into further destitution and poverty: further impuned by the replacement of income support and tax credits to Universal Credit which does not take into account the true expenses of being in this trade - again to the detriment of drivers who are being failed by this redacted differentiation between allowable expenses of a PHV driver and Hackney Taxi driver. 

We earnestly request the Government, its Departments and Ministers to review the circumstances surrounding PHV fares and bring in regulation to level the playing field for all, with regulated incremental PHV fare remuneration scales that include the above mentioned economic factors: including the cost of motoring, insurance, inflation and inline with National Minimum Wage policies aswell as other relevant factors. 

We would also urge the Government to cap operator commissions to between 10-15% to avoid worker and consumer exploitation and abuse and outlaw the culture of penalising a self-employed person for refusing a job - either by way of shadow blocking, algorithm or by temporary blocking driver access to their operators digital system - which impliedly is forcing under duress a self-employed driver to take on work which they do not wish to complete for whatever legitimate reason that may be - i.e. financially unprofitable, dead miles, bad customers or other concerns. Placing an element of control or coercian through duress on a self-employed person is illegal with the suspension off the operators platform explicitly, through algorithm or shadow blocking. 

The Gig economy operators such as Uber also need to be brought into line as they are the biggest exploiter of both the PHV driver and fare paying passenger. With commissions of over 40% being applied in the majority of trips from their operator platforms. 

It should also be deemed illegal to charge customers a priority fee to dispatch a closer PHV driver to a customer as they should be providing a "prompt and efficent" service without additional cost by law.  This is a total abuse of position and illegal profiteering. 

Drivers / workers are being left open to scandolous and financially abusive positions of employment in a lawless and unregulated environment in terms of fares and operator behaviours, attitudes and operational policies. 

It should also be deemed illegal to artificially inflate fares by including holiday pay on a per job basis - which is avoidance in disguise by the likes of Operators such as Uber. Holiday pay should be based on total earnings at the end of a remuneration period and not on a per job basis to artificially inflate fares - this practice flies in the face of employment legislation and the legal rulings requiring Uber to pay holiday pay and is permitting a lower fare payment while drivers are continued to be paid low fares. 

By having a regulated PHV fare environment, it would be beneficial not only for consumers and drivers, but also for the Department of Work and Pensions and HMRC who will be paying less in benefit top ups and collecting more income tax. It will also lift this class of employee/worker out of poverty and abuse in a time where Uber have openly admitted in a recent parlimentary review that their model (along with other operators) is based on worker exploitation and fare paying passenger abuse. 

It would also be the correct time to allow all expenses to be taken into account by Universal Credit of a PHV driver as their counterpart Hackney Taxi drivers are permitted to benefit from.

It would also be the correct time for the Government to put into statute that the Principal in a PHV, Operator and passenger relationship will always be the Operator as the PHV driver has no control over their own booking, pricing and terms of engagement - this will allow the Government to collect VAT legitimately from the Operators who have been playing the avoidance game and capitalising from all sources. 

With a reasonable approximation of over 3 million PHV trips per day in the UK, it is high time that the Government develop policies and regulation in fares and improve worker conditions to stop this abuse akin to modern day slavery by PHV operator. At a time where the PHV trade and licencing is being reviewed and brought up to date by Parliament, it is essential that the above issues and abusive practices are brought in to check in a modern environment of PHV practice and regulation. 

This would also be the correct time for the Government to treat PHV drivers and Hackney Taxi drivers as equals when accessing any income based benefit top ups and to remove the discriminatory expenses fiasco between the two who essentially perform the same function: whereby even the PHV driver is seeing an increase in disabled passengers (i.e. wheelchair users) choosing PHV vehicles due to comfort and accessibility comvenience.