Black taxi app Gett raises driver commission fees to 20% due to effects of COVID-19

Black taxi app, Gett, have announced they will raise commission fees to 20% for drivers working on the platform as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

The move means cabbies will now have to pay out 20% on each job taken on the app instead of the previously set 15% rate. The increase comes at a time when taxi driver work levels are unsustainably low due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The increase will start Monday 8 June.

In London, Gett employs more than 100 people in various different roles, with an annual payroll running into its millions each year. According to Gett sources, the taxi app has made cuts in every department with all staff taking a 15% pay cut and the global CEO cutting his pay to zero.

Duncan Burgess, Managing Director at Gett UK, said: “I know how tough it is for Black Cab drivers and that you have seen a significant drop in work - whether it’s street hail, app jobs from the general public or corporate account work.”

Burgess added: “We continue to invest in the next generation of software to keep winning corporate work for Black Cabs. With the existing privacy screens we believe that Black Cabs could represent an even better proposition as London returns to work. Our Marketing teams are working very hard to get this message out. 

“No other app has a platform that can attract account work at the scale we do. And we are now the only major app that doesn't offer private hire vehicles to the general public alongside Black Cabs. We have no plans to change that.”

Finally Burgess stated: “Nobody yet knows when the demand for taxis will return to where it was. And nobody really knows what exactly it will look like. But I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to ensure that we play a significant role in winning the work back.”