Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - Minimum Card Payment

grandad wrote:

The passengers are not being asked to pay more than the metered fare. They are being asked to pay by cash if the fare is below a certain level.
personally, our company have loads of customers who pay by card for the minimum fare of £3.00, we don't have a problem with it. processing charges are so small nowadays that it is not that much of a problem.

So if the passengers refuses/can’t pay cash, and you refuse the the fare, then you are in breach of your license conditions by refusing the fare without a reasonable excuse. I think your LA would take a dim view of this especially in the current climate.

The original question was “can a driver set a minimum card payment” the answer is No, not in a Hackney. If a driver wants to work outside the regulations then he can, I prefer to work inside them.

So if the passengers refuses/can’t pay cash, and you refuse the the fare, then you are in breach of your license conditions by refusing the fare without a reasonable excuse.

Can a Driver set a Minimum Card payment e.g. £5 etc ?

rashid wrote:

Can a Driver set a Minimum Card payment e.g. £5 etc ?

So anyway, back to the original post.

Can a driver set a minimum payment?

To answer a question with a question, why would a driver want to set a minimum payment?

To my mind, a driver either accepts card payment, or they do not accept card payment.

So card payment companies charge around 1.5% for their service, whether the fare is £3 or £300.

So why do (some of) you think a minimum charge is a reasonable thing to add on.

Whatever happened to customer service?

Doesn’t answer the question grandad.

We spent ages looking into the possible benefits verses the problems of using card machines. Some of our drivers were very reluctant, as they were when we decided to go to fixed prices that the customer is given before the journey. In the end we went with the machines and i have to say that from a company point of view, it was the best move we have made this year. Obviously it has had an impact on tips to the drivers.
Due to jobs now being on fixed prices we don't currently have any waiting time on jobs but as the drivers are on hourly pay this does not impact their earnings, the company takes the hit.
The way we work now has cost us a couple of drivers but to be honest they were the ones who didn't declare their income to the tax man or claimed benefits that they shouldn't have claimed and in one case we had reports of the driver charging what he liked at certain times and he also passed our work to his friends. So that was no real loss.

grandad wrote:

Grandad I am intrigued!

The drivers are on an hourly rate.

You are setting the fares that they have to charge.

They are responsible for declaring their income to the tax man.

Are they self-employed, running their own business, or are they employees?

Tom Thumb wrote:

grandad wrote:

Our drivers are employees on PAYE, holiday pay, pension, sick pay and everything else that goes with being an employee. At the moment most are on flexible furlough, including me.

Author:	grandad [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:42 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
x-ray wrote: grandad wrote: The passengers are not being asked to pay more than the metered fare. They are being asked to pay by cash if the fare is below a certain level. personally, our company have loads of customers who pay by card for the minimum fare of £3.00, we don't have a problem with it. processing charges are so small nowadays that it is not that much of a problem. So if the passengers refuses/can’t pay cash, and you refuse the the fare, then you are in breach of your license conditions by refusing the fare without a reasonable excuse. I think your LA would take a dim view of this especially in the current climate. Maybe in an area that mandates card payments but elsewhere and private hire, I doubt that the LA would even be bothered. They certainly wouldn't be bothered here.

Author:	x-ray [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:03 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
The original question was “can a driver set a minimum card payment” the answer is No, not in a Hackney. If a driver wants to work outside the regulations then he can, I prefer to work inside them.

Author:	grandad [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
x-ray wrote: The original question was “can a driver set a minimum card payment” the answer is No, not in a Hackney. If a driver wants to work outside the regulations then he can, I prefer to work inside them. You say "the answer is no". is that a definitive legal "no" or your interpretation?

Author:	heathcote [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
My look on this question is, the driver of a TAXI( hackney carriage ) can set how is to be paid, whether cash or card or a combination of both, if he wishes to only accept card payments for fares of £5 or greater that is his prerogative as long as he makes the person aware of this before starting the hire. The only down side is a hire must have the means of paying the full fare at the end of the journey, problem arises when they agreed to pay cash at commencement of hire but at completion of hire claim they only have a card to offer for payment.

Author:	Sussex [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
Quote: So if the passengers refuses/can’t pay cash, and you refuse the the fare, then you are in breach of your license conditions by refusing the fare without a reasonable excuse. If a council were to take a dim view, then a driver would be well in their rights to ask that council why it isn't a licensing condition? Be in no doubt a court would should a driver appeal.

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Author:	Sussex [ Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:13 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
x-ray wrote: The original question was “can a driver set a minimum card payment” the answer is No, not in a Hackney. If a driver wants to work outside the regulations then he can, I prefer to work inside them. As I have said it's how any of us define the 'card payment' question. If it means card payment of £5 for a £3 hackney fare, then clearly it is no. If it means I will only take card if the fare goes above £5, else it's cash, then it is yes.

Author:	jimbo [ Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
rashid wrote: Can a Driver set a Minimum Card payment e.g. £5 etc ? So anyway, back to the original post. Can a driver set a minimum payment? To answer a question with a question, why would a driver want to set a minimum payment? To my mind, a driver either accepts card payment, or they do not accept card payment. So card payment companies charge around 1.5% for their service, whether the fare is £3 or £300. So why do (some of) you think a minimum charge is a reasonable thing to add on. Whatever happened to customer service?

Author:	grandad [ Wed Dec 23, 2020 8:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
jimbo wrote: rashid wrote: Can a Driver set a Minimum Card payment e.g. £5 etc ? So anyway, back to the original post. Can a driver set a minimum payment? To answer a question with a question, why would a driver want to set a minimum payment? To my mind, a driver either accepts card payment, or they do not accept card payment. So card payment companies charge around 1.5% for their service, whether the fare is £3 or £300. So why do (some of) you think a minimum charge is a reasonable thing to add on. Whatever happened to customer service? I think it depends on the payment system that you use. Some newer ones are very cheap to use whereas some of the older ones have higher rates and can charge a fixed price and a percentage so for smaller payments it is not so cost effective. if a driver or company use this type of system then the answer should be for them to change to a newer system. We currently use Sum up, Stripe and Airpay depending on what the customer prefers. We also accept cash.

Author:	jimbo [ Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
Doesn’t answer the question grandad.

Author:	grandad [ Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
jimbo wrote: Doesn’t answer the question grandad. Which question?

Author:	Tom Thumb [ Sun Dec 27, 2020 11:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
grandad wrote: We spent ages looking into the possible benefits verses the problems of using card machines. Some of our drivers were very reluctant, as they were when we decided to go to fixed prices that the customer is given before the journey. In the end we went with the machines and i have to say that from a company point of view, it was the best move we have made this year. Obviously it has had an impact on tips to the drivers. Due to jobs now being on fixed prices we don't currently have any waiting time on jobs but as the drivers are on hourly pay this does not impact their earnings, the company takes the hit. The way we work now has cost us a couple of drivers but to be honest they were the ones who didn't declare their income to the tax man or claimed benefits that they shouldn't have claimed and in one case we had reports of the driver charging what he liked at certain times and he also passed our work to his friends. So that was no real loss. Grandad I am intrigued! The drivers are on an hourly rate. You are setting the fares that they have to charge. They are responsible for declaring their income to the tax man. Are they self-employed, running their own business, or are they employees?

Author:	grandad [ Sun Dec 27, 2020 5:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
Tom Thumb wrote: grandad wrote: We spent ages looking into the possible benefits verses the problems of using card machines. Some of our drivers were very reluctant, as they were when we decided to go to fixed prices that the customer is given before the journey. In the end we went with the machines and i have to say that from a company point of view, it was the best move we have made this year. Obviously it has had an impact on tips to the drivers. Due to jobs now being on fixed prices we don't currently have any waiting time on jobs but as the drivers are on hourly pay this does not impact their earnings, the company takes the hit. The way we work now has cost us a couple of drivers but to be honest they were the ones who didn't declare their income to the tax man or claimed benefits that they shouldn't have claimed and in one case we had reports of the driver charging what he liked at certain times and he also passed our work to his friends. So that was no real loss. Grandad I am intrigued! The drivers are on an hourly rate. You are setting the fares that they have to charge. They are responsible for declaring their income to the tax man. Are they self-employed, running their own business, or are they employees? Our drivers are employees on PAYE, holiday pay, pension, sick pay and everything else that goes with being an employee. At the moment most are on flexible furlough, including me.

Author:	Tom Thumb [ Mon Dec 28, 2020 7:29 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Minimum Card Payment
grandad wrote: Tom Thumb wrote: grandad wrote: We spent ages looking into the possible benefits verses the problems of using card machines. Some of our drivers were very reluctant, as they were when we decided to go to fixed prices that the customer is given before the journey. In the end we went with the machines and i have to say that from a company point of view, it was the best move we have made this year. Obviously it has had an impact on tips to the drivers. Due to jobs now being on fixed prices we don't currently have any waiting time on jobs but as the drivers are on hourly pay this does not impact their earnings, the company takes the hit. The way we work now has cost us a couple of drivers but to be honest they were the ones who didn't declare their income to the tax man or claimed benefits that they shouldn't have claimed and in one case we had reports of the driver charging what he liked at certain times and he also passed our work to his friends. So that was no real loss. Grandad I am intrigued! The drivers are on an hourly rate. You are setting the fares that they have to charge. They are responsible for declaring their income to the tax man. Are they self-employed, running their own business, or are they employees? Our drivers are employees on PAYE, holiday pay, pension, sick pay and everything else that goes with being an employee. At the moment most are on flexible furlough, including me. Cheers Thanks for the explanation. Until July we were in the same game, but Covid has forced us to change and join the self-employed drivers brigade.

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