Taxi Driver Online

Council treat taxi driver unfairly


A CYNON Valley taxi driver fears a decision by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council could ‘drive’ him out of business – quite literally.

Jason Phillips has bought a £19,000 Volkswagon Transporter, capable of carrying eight passengers.

But the local authority will only allow him to carry five passengers – despite identical vehicles operating in the Pontypridd area being granted permission to carry eight.

All hackney carriages are checked by the council and given a licensed plate stating the number of passengers the vehicle can carry.

The crucial factor in the decision is the size of the seats and the amount of knee room for passengers.

“I only bought a Volkswagon Transporter because I had seen them operating in the borough and knew they were plated to carry eight passengers,” said Mr Phillips, 36, of Cyprus Court, Landare.

“How can there be one rule for Pontypridd taxi drivers and a different one for Cynon Valley?

“I am a one-man business and I bought the eight-seater to compete for the evening trade, taking passengers on nights out to Swansea and Cardiff. If I am not allowed to compete then I could go bankrupt.

“When I asked the council why Volkswagon Tranporters in the Pontypridd area were allowed to carry eight passengers, I was told some had slipped through the net.

“That is no comfort to me whatsoever.”

Other valley taxi companies have been affected by plating problems.

Jan Williams, 47, of A and N Taxis, had been given a plate to carry three passengers in her four-seater Octavia.

“I challenged the council’s guidelines on this issue when I discovered the rules and regulations only covered the size of back seats in vehicles, not front seats.

“I now have a four plate,” said the taxi owner.

Terry Howells, of Hirwaun, has been operating for the past year with a seven-plate ruling on his Renault Traffic vehicle.

But Williams’s challenge means he has now secured an eight-seater plating on his vehicle

“We are all behind Jason in his fight to allow him to use his taxi to its maximum capacity,” said Mr Williams.

Despite numerous requests to its press office, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has refused to issue a statement or make any comment.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

That is simply farcical.

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IDFIMH

I wonder why he didnt ask the LA before buying the vehicle?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I wonder why the LA needs to be advised on how to calculate seat numbers.

The vehicles are huge, saying you can only have five punters in something that easily sits seven/eight is crazy and makes the council and the LO look very very stupid.

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IDFIMH

I agree.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

and this just highlights one of the effects of power being placed in one person/areas considered view of a regulation..

has the VW got "tipping" seats for rear row access?

BTW, i thought the VW transporter, Vito and Traffic/Vivaro were all the same size as my transit tourneo but the transit is quite a bit bigger, even in SWB guise

You may or may not remember I had the same problem with Newport Gwent some years ago - I had a Tx1 plated for six seats, the next time they would only plate it for five saying that it was a mistake and that it was the council policy.

If I were to fight the council through the courts it would have cost me thousands and of course no guarantee that I would have won, I moved over to Cardiff L.A who have no such policy.

Question ? would it be allowable/possible to "Operate" in his borough under a different L.A. in order to get his vehicle through the plating of 7/8 passengers - it sounds stupid but it is the "Intention" to take passengers to Cardiff & Swansea he would therefore be acting in reverse taking them back - no actual difference in reality.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

"most" LA's dont allow PH ops licences outside their own area (in fact doubt they could) but cant stop him having a hackney plate (if they plate 8-pax vehicles like his as hackney) as he would be ranking/touting/plying as a hackney in the right area, pre-booked PH jobs he can take from anywhere

The same way there's differing conditions of licensing for London and downtrodden places like . . . Slough.

Pontypridd gets mains electric next year, so there...

look you bach

If VOSA say the vehicle is OK for 8 that should be good enough for any council.
I hope JD emails or phones this council to put them right

no spellchecker at the council i see...

If these are your council rules they also need a kick up the @rse as well,
These cabs are in use all over the Uk along with the Galaxy's and Sharon's, and any other type of MPV without all this sheit and all have seats in the rear that you have to fold down one of the middle ones to gain access to

one guy here has a Peugeot 807 07 plate which is a 6+driver vehicle but has had to remove a seat on council orders to make a 5+driver PH vehicle

(i think his seats are on runners though)

obviously the council know more that Peugeot or Ford or any manufacturer, but havent told em they are dangerous.....