Kabal Singh is one of 500 Uber drivers who cannot work through no fault of his own.
He tells Metro, like so many others in his position, that he is now in debt after prolonged delays in getting his license renewed by Transport for London.
His union, the IWGB, says that many professional drivers are facing destitution – and it’s not just affecting Uber.
Kabal, from west London, told us that he has been unable to work for a month because his licence expired on February 26.
He said he has been forced to borrow £800 from a relative in the desperate situation to afford the basics.
Kabal, who has a teenage son, also cares for his disabled wife.
‘It is really difficult. I’m still waiting and I’m now jobless,’ he told Metro.
He said he is feeling the ‘stress’ and ‘tension every day’ and pleaded with TfL to urgently help him by renewing his permit.
All taxis and private-hire drivers have to get a license from TfL to be allowed to operate in the capital.
Kabal, who has been driving for apps like Uber and Eagle for around six years, said he applied for the license renewal in November last year.
On average, he earns between £2,500-£3,000 a month, but now he has been left scrambling to pay for his son’s tuition fees and ‘so I can pay the electricity bill.’
‘It’s very tough. My wife also needs private physical therapy.’
He said his son needs things, but he has to repeatedly tell him ‘I don’t have any money.’
To make matters worse, his family home was burgled on March 1, which has caused extra stress. Among the stolen items was almost £1,200 of money his son had saved up in a box.
He continued: ‘Why haven’t they sent my license? I’m a hard worker. I don’t like free money.
‘My license is my work.’
Nader Awaad, chair of the IWGB’s private hire driver branch and a driver, said the TfL backlog is causing ‘hundreds of drivers drowning in debt and destitution.’
He called for TfL to issue temporary licenses to all drivers until the backlog is fixed and for the government to ‘address this crisis’ if they were ‘serious about getting people “back to work.”‘
A TfL spokesperson told Metro that processing times are affected by ‘the difficulties we experienced following the cyber incident last year.’
TfL has recently introduced a new licensing system, which has ‘delivered a number of benefits to licensees, including the ability to track their applications online,’ they said.
The number of licensing staff has been increased and TfL is working with its system service provider ‘to rectify any system issues.’
The TfL spokesperson continued: ‘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.’
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