Taxi Driver Online

Council investigating taxi drivers adding illegal card payment surcharges

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/council-inves ... 00988.html

An East Lancashire council has vowed that they are acting on reports that taxi drivers are adding illegal car surcharges.

Rossendale Borough Council have said that customers in the area have been charged more than the agreed fare when paying by card, and incidents like this should be reported to the licensing team.

The council says that in most cases, this has been around 10 per cent higher, although in some instances the additional amount has been higher.

A spokesperson for the authority said: “Thank you to the residents who raised this with us, your information has allowed us to act quickly.

“Adding a surcharge for paying by card is illegal under the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations. After reviewing the evidence provided, we have begun the appropriate licensing processes and have informed Trading Standards.”

If you have booked a cab, the authority says you should agree the fare before starting the journey, where possible, and do not allow for an additional amount to be added when using the card machine.

Additionally, if you have been charged a surcharge, keep the receipt where possible and report it.

A spokesperson added: “If you are asked to pay anything on top of the agreed fare because you’re paying by card, please let us know. Adding a surcharge is a criminal offence, and from May 1, any driver found doing this may face prosecution.

“Any breaches reported to us will be investigated and taken through the proper licensing process, and we will also pass the information to Trading Standards.”

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IDFIMH

there was a time that surcharges were allowed. Mandating cards means forcing drivers to pay commissions to banks which not all are willing to accept.

I'm sure this happens in nearly every council area

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

I could see the point when banks were charging 20 per cent, or whatever, or maybe a fixed fee of £2 or similar, which would obviously demolish the benefit of a short run.

But with current charges of something like 0.9 - 1.7 per cent (on the two systems I use, at least) then I don't see the point of getting sniffy about the charges.

In fact the main reason I prefer cash to tips is because of the now well-established truism that folks are simply less inclined to tip with automated payments

I mean, it's not just a demographic thing, or whatever - students here, for example, are a lot more inclined to pay by card, but were very bad tippers anyway

But, for example, I've had plenty people paying by card and the I've keyed in the fare as per the meter, and it's all ready to go. Then at the last second they say something like, "wait, I think I've got the cash", and they fish out a note (or two), and you get a tip

I don't think the issue is the % charged by the card companies.

IMO, it's the greed of the drivers trying it on.

The % charged is just being used as an excuse.

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IDFIMH

It's not so much that but certain religious texts condemn the practice so some drivers are being forced to go against their religion.

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