Managing the ULEZ charge – minicabit

Managing ULEZ effectively for minicabit bookings.

Ultra Low Emission (ULEZ) Zone for Central London

ULEZ is a daily charge (midnight to midnight) for higher polluting vehicles to enter central London as per the above map. The area is currently the same as the Congestion Charge zone and is very small compared to the overall coverage of most Cab Operators, though it will extend later in 2021.

Duration: Midnight to Midnight (Daily Charge)

Exemptions : the following low and zero emission cars do not need to pay this charge (check your vehicle here)

Electric Vehicles
Petrol: Euro 4 - normally cars registered with DVLA after 2005 are exempt
Diesel: Euro 6 - normally cars registered with DVLA after 2015 are exempt
Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicles
Residents : Drivers who live in the zone can get 100% relief

If you increase your prices on minicabit, you will likely push hard won customers onto other platforms like Uber (as happened when hailo hiked up their charges, see here)

Recommendations to avoid your business losing revenue :

Educate your current and new drivers to take on ULEZ-exempt cars
Prioritise assigning minicabit jobs to ULEZ-exempt cars
Assign minicabit jobs to those of your drivers who are already scheduled to do multiple jobs of yours in the ULEZ area since they can more easily recover the ULEZ charge if they earn more work in the zone per day

Clearly, the best way to address ULEZ is to upgrade your fleets and invest in vehicles that are compliant. See here for Heathrow's plans to introduce similar charges for all private hire vehicles: https://your.heathrow.com/vehicleaccess/