Hailo, the mobile app which lets users hail a black cab and private minicabs, has resigned its private hire licence and return to black cab only in London.
In a blog post today CEO Andrew Pinnington said he was committed to go “back to black - 100 per cent Hackney carriage. No ifs, no buts, just taxis”.
The announcement follows Transport for London’s launch of a consultation to “modernise” private car regulations on services such as Uber.
Uber has responded by getting 90,000 signatures for a petition against a possible crackdown on its services.
Hailo began as an app that allows users to hail taxis but controversially branched out into minicabs last year.
"Together we need to start by exposing the two big pieces of misinformation about the taxi trade: that cabbies don’t like new technology, and that taxis are a dying trade,” said Pinnington.
"Cabbies began using tech before companies like Uber even existed... If we allow price and market forces to be the only criteria, it just creates a race to the bottom on who can deliver the cheapest service,” he added.
Hailo also confirmed it would work with unions to campaign “at every level of government” to protect the black cab trade.