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Black Cabs Will Take Card Payments in Reading from Next Year

https://www.reading.co.uk/black-cabs-wi ... next-year/

All black cabs in Reading will be required to take card payments from passengers by next year, following a licensing committee decision made last night (June 6).

A limited number of hackney carriages in Reading currently provide facilities for passengers to pay for their trips by credit or debit card. Following recent requests by members of the public for card payment to be made available in all black cabs however, members last night approved the installation of electronic payment devices as part of revised carriage licence conditions.

Hackney Carriage drivers will also be asked to prominently display signage in their vehicles, making it clear that card payment is available. The revised conditions come into effect on January 2nd 2019.

Councillor Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, said:

“A growing number of people no longer carry cash and only use card payments on a day to day basis. It makes sense therefore to require all licensed black cabs in Reading to offer their passengers this choice of payment going forward. Cash payment will of course still be taken, but from January next year I’m pleased to say card payments will be an additional option in every hackney carriage in Reading.”

Electronic payment devices approved by the Council will be used as part of the change, the cost of which will be covered by the hackney carriage owner as part of their licensing agreement with the Council.

Coming soon to a taxi rank near you...

And will all council offices have card payment facilities ?
Unlike our licensing dept who up until last year would only accept cheques, no card payments or cash !

Is the LA forcing other establishments it licenses (pubs, sex shops, off licences etc.) to take card payments ?

Our council testing depot will *only* accept card payments - was caught out by that a few years ago when I tried to pay with my usual cash, only to find that they wouldn't accept it.

The licensing department also accepts cheques, but definitely no cash these days.



As usual I suspect the thinking here is that HCs have a captive market, so customers should expect to be able to pay by card in this day and age. Which in turn is presumably why PH aren't included.

By the same token, pubs and off-licenses probably won't be included, because the market is more competitive and customers can shop around if they don't like the payment methods offered by individual businesses. So councils no more likely to make them accept card payments than to set their prices, as per HCs. Or to order Uber to accept *cash* payments - customers can like it or lump it.

And so they should.

If the hackney carriage trade wish to survive for many years to come then they best realise it's 2018 not 1847.

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IDFIMH

Including the likes of you.

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IDFIMH

Ours you can only pay online.

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IDFIMH

ours too you have to pay online then take a printout of the confirmation and documents to the council office

round here I carry an Izettle reader but the only people who want to do card are the ones that want to pay in advance over the phone

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

Ours you can only pay in person at the office.

Just noticed that you can also use *postal orders* to apply for a licence.

Which certainly contradicts the more modern trend - I didn't know postal orders still existed

It is still legal to pay with stamps.

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Grandad,