Calls grow for government action on private hire and gig worker rights after Bolt tribunal ruling
A recent Employment Tribunal ruling against Bolt has reignited calls for reform within the UK’s gig economy, with some pointing towards the ongoing denial of basic rights to minicab drivers who depend on app-based platforms for their livelihood.
The decision has sparked strong commentary from key advocates, particularly James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange, who argues that the judgment exposes deep flaws in the structure of app-based work and highlights the pressing need for regulatory oversight.
According to Farrar, the tribunal’s decision is yet another reminder of what he describes as a systemic issue facing an estimated 250,000 minicab drivers in Britain, most of whom are from ethnic minorities.
He emphasises that these drivers are caught in an employment model that systematically denies them rights that would otherwise be guaranteed in a traditional employment relationship. “After years of litigation,” he remarked, “the ruling once again confirms what neither the Government nor licensing authorities seem to want to acknowledge.”
Central to the tribunal’s ruling is the requirement that app-based drivers be paid for all time spent online with a single app, whether they are actively driving or waiting for their next passenger. The court’s logic, Farrar explained, rests on the notion that drivers remain at the disposal of the platform while logged in, contributing value and availability to the service even if they are not constantly occupied with a fare.
Farrar criticised app employers for designing a model that maximises responsiveness to passenger demand but fails to consider the cost to drivers. He argued that the refusal to pay for waiting time has made gig platforms “operationally inefficient” with driver utilisation rates ranging between just 40% and 60% of their logged-in time. Such low utilisation, he noted, is not just a personal hardship for drivers but also creates broader externalities, such as excess congestion, higher emissions, and increased fatigue-related safety risks.
“App employers have not paid for waiting time,” Farrar stated, which has led to “market response” optimisation at the expense of operational efficiency and safety.
Beyond the economic and environmental consequences, Farrar also highlighted what he sees as the Government’s failure to take meaningful action on gig worker rights. He pointed out that the latest employment bill failed to address the issue of worker status for platform-based drivers, a gap that he believes has left a significant workforce in legal and economic limbo. With this tribunal decision, he argued, the Government should reconsider its stance and enact policies that formally recognise the employment relationship between drivers and platforms like Bolt and Uber.
Farrar’s comments reflect growing frustration from worker advocacy groups who argue that app-based employment models benefit from regulatory loopholes that disadvantage drivers. He suggested that without intervention, market dynamics and competition issues will worsen, leading to further consequences not only for workers but also for urban infrastructure and environmental targets.
James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange, said: “After years of litigation, the ruling once again confirms what neither the government nor licensing authorities seem to want to acknowledge: a quarter of a million minicab drivers in Britain, most of whom are ethnic minorities, are trapped in an employment relationship where they are systematically denied basic rights. It is a shame that the government balked on addressing worker status in the current employment bill and should now do so in light of this ruling.
“The ruling applied the analysis of working time from the Supreme Court judgement against Uber to hold that those working for a single app must be paid for all time spent with the app ‘switched on’. Because app employers have not paid for waiting time, they are optimised for market response but are operationally inefficient with worker utilisation rates as low as 40-60% of logged in time. This generates harmful externalities including excess congestion, emissions and fatigue related road safety risk.
“Since Uber now has more than 70% market share, the rational choice for drivers is to concentrate all their working time to just Uber since they would be paid for waiting time and risk losing this by also working for Bolt or any other rideshare platform. This would concentrate further market platform power with Uber, potentially triggering serious competition concerns, but at least Ube drivers would be paid for all working time and Uber would finally have the correct economic incentives not to over supply the market with unpaid labour and vehicles. The absence of regulatory oversight has not only caused serious problems for workers but is now inevitably leading to serious market dysfunction.“
