Ride-hailing app Bolt’s plan to offer private hires in Glasgow has suffered a setback after its licensing application was ruled “incompetent”.
The UK arm of the Estonian firm, which operates similarly to Uber, had asked the city council for a licence to open a booking office on West Regent Street.
But bosses failed to name a day-to-day manager for the office on a notice which is required to be displayed on the premises prior to a decision by the licensing committee.
Glasgow Taxis and the Greater Glasgow Private Hire Association called for the application to be refused, with representatives of both highlighting the site notice issue.
Bolt, which has secured licences in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, will be able to submit a new application for a Glasgow booking office licence, which will be “considered on its merits”.
The company operates in 45 countries and wanted to offer a 24/7 app-based service in Glasgow, with a booking office staffed from Monday to Friday.
It had not recruited a local manager at the time of the application and therefore left the information out of the site notice.
Michael McLean, from law firm Jones Whyte, representing the Greater Glasgow Private Hire Association, said it was “unclear” which “individuals will be managing and responsible for the booking office”.
“It is unclear the extent to which that person can be considered as a fit and proper person.
“The notice was lacking in some respects; it did not provide details of a day to day manager and, in my submission, the notice was defective in terms of the statutory requirements.”
Tom McEntegart, from TLT solicitors, representing Glasgow Taxis, said the absence of information on the day-to-day manager meant the committee could not determine the “fitness and suitability of the applicant”.
Cllr Alex Wilson, who chairs the licensing committee, asked the applicant: “Who was displayed as the day-to-day manager on your site notice?”
Dr Michael Galvin, who had been dealing with Bolt’s licence bid, replied: “It wasn’t displayed on the notice, it was on the application form.”
He added this was because once the firm was licensed it was “going to propose a new day-to-day manager”.
Mairi Millar, the council’s head of licensing, said: “My advice to committee would be that on the basis of the submission made there by Mr Galvin, they have not properly displayed the site notice as is required under the legislation and the application is therefore incompetent.”
Cllr Wilson added: “You are perfectly entitled to come in for another licence application and it will be considered on its merits going forward, but at the moment I cannot take this any further due to the admission from Dr Galvin.”
There had initially been concerns over the location of the site notice, but a council enforcement officer was “satisfied that the notice was on display”.
Hazel Moffat, Bolt’s legal representative, had earlier said Dr Galvin was acting as the nominated point of contact until a local manager was recruited.
She said the firm had appointed Neil Cuthill in December, who will be the operations manager in Glasgow if a licence is secured.
Mr McLean had also argued that app-based companies can’t “perform the same functions that the traditional booking office would as regards public safety”.
“It is not accessible in the same way for enforcement or indeed law enforcement. It is not accessible in the same way for members of the public.”
John Cassidy, of Greater Glasgow Private Hire Association, added: “The current situation with the private hire and the hackney trade is bad, and they are not bringing anything to the table.
“They don’t take a booking from their office, our office is open 24 hours a day to the police, the licensing authority.
“These are just opening an office, a shoebox, throwing out an app and taking our business off us. They bring nothing to the table at all.”
Ms Moffat said: “Despite what has been said, Bolt Services UK is licensed already in Edinburgh.
“Since 2020, they’ve received licences in 34 local authority areas in England and Wales, again under equivalent licensing systems, all operating the same business models.”
She added the firm would have a manned booking office as well allowing customers to register any concerns via the app, and would provide a contact number for the council’s enforcement team.
