ALL THINGS LICENSING
controlled district. However in the more modern application of taxi journeys, many journeys involve long distances and as such it is likely to be impractical not to drive outside of the district.
In respect of a fare for a journey which ends outside of the district, section 66 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 introduces a further requirement on the fare for a journey:
refuse a journey. Ranks are often busy so try and get another driver to witness the customer’s actions. It would also be advisable to make a note of the incident which you can refer to later and use to show the justification for your actions.
One of the more frequent complaints from the trade is about driver’s ‘cherry picking’ jobs and refusing ‘short’ journeys and in the increasingly competitive environment of taxi work a driver who has been waiting on the rank for some considerable time only to get a customer who wants to go around the corner for a couple of pounds may feel disgruntled. However, to be clear, refusing a job because it was too short is not considered a sufficient reason to refuse a fare.
Having dealt with a number of these type of complaints previously, drivers have often said that they refused a short journey in order to save the customer money as the journey was within a walkable distance. However, there again may be a valid reason for the customer wishing to be taken a short distance, for example in adverse weather, if they are carrying cases or need to be taken quickly. One of the more recent complaints I have dealt with involved a customer with a disability which was not visible wanting to be taken a short distance on the basis of their anxiety.
There is nothing wrong with trying to be helpful and explaining to a potential customer that their intended destination is only a short distance away. The right way to do this would be to explain to the customer that you are happy to take them however it is easily walkable, thus giving them the opportunity to make an informed choice. Although if the customer wishes to be taken on that short journey, then drivers cannot refuse.
Journeys outside the district
Hackney carriage journeys which start in the licensed area but which end outside of it may be refused as there is no requirement in the legislation for the driver to accept a journey which finishes outside of the
PHTM APRIL 2023 “Fares for long journeys.
No person, being the driver of a hackney carriage licensed by a district council, and undertaking for any hirer a journey ending outside the district and in respect of which no fare and no rate of fare was agreed before the hiring was effected, shall require for such journey a fare greater than that indicated on the taximeter with which the hackney carriage is equipped or, if it is not equipped with a taximeter, greater than that which, if the current byelaws fixing rates or fares and in force in the district in pursuance of section 68 of the Act of 1847 or, as the case may be, the current table of fares in force within the district in pursuance of section 65 of this Act had applied to the journey, would have been authorised for the journey by the bylaws or table.”
Fares for long journeys are again an area of contention and subject of complaints to the authority. Section 66 above sets out that if a fare is for a journey which finishes outside of the district, the journey can only be charged at the maximum rates set out in the council’s table of fares if no fare is agreed in advance. If a fare is agreed in advance, then this is the maximum fare which should be charged, even if the meter rate would have been higher.
IoL Taxi Conference – 18 April (online)
Finally, the Institute of Licensing’s popular Taxi Conference returns on 18 April, taking place online. This is open to everyone with an interest in taxi licensing, including local authority officers and importantly members of the trade, and provides a great opportunity to keep up to date with the latest happenings in the sector.
The Taxi Conference will have a packed agenda, with full details of the event on the IoL website:
https://www.instituteoflicensing.org/EventItem/Get EventItem/170713
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