Taxi Driver Online

An update on my original post.This is what we have just received from our licensing manager. It is self explanatory but is it legal ? He is enabling the Hackneys to do private hire work without going on the meter. The wording is what he intends to put on the fare chart.

I have finalised wording that will be added to the fare chart that will enable hackney carriages to be booked and their customers charged via a private hire operator.

 

The extra line on the fare chart will read as follows:

 

PRIVATE HIRE - This table does not apply to journeys booked with and charged by a third party private hire operator

 

This means that the PHO will have to pass the booking to the driver and also deal with the transaction from the passenger. If the fare is paid directly to the driver by the passenger(s), this clause does not take effect.

 

It is hoped that this will be advertised for the statutory 14 days from 2nd March, ending on 16th March. If there are no objections, or the objections are withdrawn before this, or the objections are considered and it is decided to implement this by the decision maker on 16th March, it will come into force on 16th March 2026.

What a mess.

It's worth mentioning that we still have some councils that don't set a taxi tariff, so, in effect, a council can do most stuff in respect of taxi tariffs if it appears on the tariff sheet.

However, what's coming down the line is a Hampshire and Solent elected Mayor, who will be in charge of taxi and PH licensing. So, quite why your LO is fannying around with stupid changes like this when it will have to be changed back in a year or two is baffling to say the least.

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IDFIMH

Simple explanation why this cannot be done, Taxi meter must be engaged at the start of every hired journey within the district.

It would appeart that this is another licenaing officer who does not meet the fit and proper person criteria for the position they hold ie, an idiot.

Quite apart from the legality of it all, if the purpose of licensing is to promote transparency and consistency with respect to fares charged, and suchlike, then what's being proposed is a bit of a mess.

He's trying to shoehorn market-driven pricing into the legal parameters of regulated HC tariffs, basically, which can't really be done.

And if it could be done legally, then I'm pretty sure one of the other 270 so councils setting tariffs under the same legislation would have done it by now

What this LO is saying is that best part of 200 years of taxi pricing is all a load of old bo*****s, and he knows best.

He is basically saying taxi fares are now being set by PH operators.

Of course those PH operators might be well happy with that, but those clever operators might have missed the point that the happiest operator will be Uber.

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IDFIMH

The question I'm asking "is it legal?"as he's going ahead with it.
I've read in many places about meter and so on but then get told about black cabs in London working for Uber. Don't forget this is so that Hackney drivers can charge more than it would have run on the meter.

But the black cabs in London won't be charging more than the regulated tariffs, even working for Uber - it's a different Uber 'product' as compared to the standard PHV offering, and diffent fares.

Anyway, HC tariffs in London are regulated under different legislation. The London issue is a red herring - question is whether any other council in England allows HCs to charge more than the regulated tariff if booked via a private hire operator. I'd guess the answer is a big fat NO, unless the Southampton LO knows differently.

has the fare been agreed between the operator and customer at the time of booking ? I believe this changes things because the customer has accepted the price.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Ask your LO what section of what act allows a council to set a private hire tariff for hackney carriages.

And can he name a council in the 270 that operates under the 1847 and 1976 acts that allow such a policy?

And copy in the Chair of the Licensing Committee.

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IDFIMH

It is illegal under sec 58 of the 1847 Act for a driver to charge more than the fare shown on the meter.

Liverpool - v- Curzon states that only the council's approved tariff can be set on the meter.

As for black cabs on Uber in London, they can only charge TfL's set rate, and they appear on the app under a price that follows that rate. In other words, they can't do surge pricing.

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IDFIMH

Doesn't matter unless you are dropping outside of your licensing district.

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IDFIMH

Think this is the relevant provision in the 1976 Act? (Was looking at this while looking for the section about the appearance of PHVs...)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/57/section/67

Of course, I think there are a few tariff cards with booking fees etc. And also the whole thing about school runs etc

And although those scenarios might not withstand a legal challenge, I suspect the more high-profile and contentious of the Southampton scenario means that whatever the LO there comes up with will be more likely to be subject to greater scrutiny...

Why do they turn a blind eye to school contracts surely the law is the law?
If the licensing manager goes ahead with his plans, does he become accountable for breaking the law or will it fall on the operator and Hackney driver?

Given that the prosecuting authority will be the one whose policy they are prosecuting against, I very much doubt that will be an issue for drivers and operators.

All that said, you need them to justify their policy.

All the questions that you are asking on TDO, and it’s great you are as it keeps some of us going, you need to ask your LO copying in the lead councillor.

I also go back to the point I mentioned a while back. Given that everyone concerned in adopting and enforcing policies will, in a year or two, no longer have those powers, it does beg the question as to why they are currently fannying around trying to reinvent the wheel.

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IDFIMH

When I joined the Hackneys I thought why is Hackneys allowed to do School runs when they are public hire & Peak times due to 90% cabs being on school runs used to cause a lot of customer waiting time on Taxi ranks
But now I also do a Local School run Mk to MK
2 Kids Same street it’s 3 Miles to Drop off school & I get £35 each way & Council have never had a problem

My main concern was people always complain less Taxis on ranks Peak times & council know Majority hackneys do School runs but never raised a concern!