When Uber arrived in the city, it was “brilliant, good money, nice driving, fancy cars – a happy life,” said Daniel Pop, who has been an Uber driver since 2016.

But for Mr Pop, and many drivers like him, that wasn’t to last. “After the pandemic, when everything started to recover and all the prices went up, Uber prices were the same or even lower than before the pandemic,” he said.

“Insurance went up, fuel went up, cost of living went up, and we still have to survive on the same amount of money as before.”

It is a story we hear again and again. The promise (for some, in the early days, the reality) of supporting families and fledgling businesses with a flexible income, replaced with a growing anxiety about working hours, opaque commission rates and the ever-present financial pressure.