Taxi Driver Online

I fully understand your flying fridge opinion, but what happens if a PH is a one off operator?

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IDFIMH

Jimbo, assuming that having to lodge a fare table with the council is uncontentious, how does this translate to how drivers charge punters in practical terms?

If the PH cars aren't fitted with meters then how precisely are fare controlled at the coal face?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Or at least no more a requirement than to have a meter fitted in the first place?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I have not a clue.

I am aware that PH can set their own tariff. I can only asume then, that drivers can therefore set their own "sub" (or in this case )"plus" tariff.

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Former taxi driver

Well if you haven't got a clue then why were you so quick to call into question the driver's integrity and to that extent call into question his evidence re the assault?

The accused clearly has a history, whereas you dismissed the drivers account on the basis of something that you now admit you don't have a clue about?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

To expand then; I have not a clue how any PH driver draws a conclusion as to what to charge for a particular journey. I had always assumed they were told what the fare was by their office. It would seem that the drivers can, (and do) charge whatever they want to. A charge of £6 for a 900 yards journey seems excessive to me, particularly as the same journey at the same time would have been £4 in a Hackney.

So, as I have so little knowledge of the PH trade, would someone out there care to explain how the fare system works for PH? Who decides how much the punter should pay? The driver or the office?

THe inescapable fact of this case is that the Driver working for County Cars, (01522 567878) attempted to rip off the passenger. So, was he actually assaulted, or was he trying to cover his butt? I bet the Judge would not have convicted had he known the full facts?

I now have the full "echo" article, by the way.

Is Cybro your "source" JD?

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Former taxi driver

So. A Hackney driver can charge no more than is shown on the meter.

A PH driver can charge whatever he wants to (and double it?)

Is that a "fare" assesment of the law as it stands?

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Former taxi driver

Yeap.

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IDFIMH

Or half it.

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Grandad,

Halfway through a journey?

So how are fare disputes resolved in PH world?

One day I get into a PH and the fare is £5. The next day the fare is £20. That's legally enforceable?

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Former taxi driver

Nope, I spoke to the passengers solicitor direct. He informed me of all the details. I also spoke to the private hire office and it appears they charge what they want depending on where you are going. They don't seem to have a set fare structure for anything.

I normally do all my investigating myself that way you only have yourself to blame if you get it wrong.

Any cab driver looking at the story for the first time would normally think of three things that stand out. One is the price of the journey for half a mile, which was six pounds, second would be the fact that the driver informed the passenger half way through the journey what the price would be and third it might have crossed some of our minds whether the hire was legal, or a clandestine pick up from outside the pub which was not pre booked.

The journey was booked therefore the hire was legitimate, your LO is off ill at the moment so I couldn't talk to him and the journalist who wrote the story was out. That just left two people to contact, the solicitor and the lads family.

After speaking with the solicitor there was no point in contacting the lads family because as I previously stated from what I was told by the solicitor, apart from what appears as an overcharging which brought about this incident, the proper course was the way it panned out and that was for the bench to decide the outcome. It should be noted that the bench probably did take into account the action that incited the incident and that was the overcharging. I think the fact that he was in breach of other orders was the reason behind his custodial sentence.

I think that's a fair consideration of the facts from what we know.

At least I'm satisfied that I did all I could to get to the bottom of it,

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

So you don't know the precise law relating to PH fares, you don't know how it's applied in practice, you don't know what happened on the journey, but according to you it's an "inescapable fact" that the driver was attempting to rip off the punter.

OK, so let's be charitable and assume that the punter was ripped off to the tune of a pound or so.

You then use this fact to question that truth of the driver's claim to have been assaulted, despite the inescapable fact that the accused had history.

As is so often the case your posts seem more signature than substance jimbo

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Cover his butt about what?

I don't think the police got involved on the basis of any illegality concering the fare, so what would the driver have been covering up?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

There is no requirement for a private hire proprietor/operator to have a meter fitted but if they do then they can set their own fare tariff (in England and Wales). The regulation of the meter while it is in use comes under the jurisdiction of the licensing authority but those that don't have a meter fitted will in most cases operate a set fare structure that drivers work to on the basis of so much per mile. The formula in most cases is for general consistency.

In this case advising the passenger halfway through the journey of what the fare will be before the journey ends would suggest to me that the driver was ripping the customer off. I have no doubt that the overcharging was the catalyst of this incident because that was stated quite clearly in the proceedings. Take away the overcharging element and there may have been no incident but non of us can be 100% sure of that.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Not forgetting the consideration of hackney carriage drivers where it is an offence to overcharge a customer, could a private hire driver who charged more than the fare structure laid down by the operator be leaving himself open to a charge of "dishonesty" and therefore would that not bring into question his suitability as a "fit and proper" person?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.