Taxi Driver Online

We received a letter from our council on Staurday informing us that we are required to have our meters changed this Thursday between 11.00 and 13.00. Pitts taxi meters are comming out to do this. They are charging £20 per meter to do the changes and issue a new certificate of calibration. Another company from Nottingham have offered to come out and carry out the same work for £15 per meter but our council are insisting on Pitts doing the work. If councils choose to use the highest quote for their own work is it any wonder they can't balance the books. I have sent an email asking if we can use the other company but apparently the licensing officer is not in the office until Wednesday.

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Grandad,

They can't dictate who you use, provided the service is the same.

I would ask the council why they chose the £20 mob over the £15 mob?

And if you get no joy this is a good one for the Ombudsman.

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IDFIMH

we have asked and all we get is that it is in the council policy that meters are fitted and calibrated by Pitts. The policy is currently under review but until the policy is changed it must be Pitts.
I wonder what would happen if a load of us got our meters changed by the other company and just sent in the certificate of calibration to the council?

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Grandad,

The extra fiver is to cover the price of the bung

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

What's a certificate of calibration?

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Former taxi driver

When the meter is set and sealed the company doing the setting and sealing will issue a certificate stating that the meter has been set and sealed to the council tariff.

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Grandad,

So presumably the council relies on the certificate of calibration rather than actually testing the meter itself?

The only test that the council carry out is that they check that the flagfall is correct. The garage carrying out the annual inspection are, I think, supposed to take the car over a measured mile. I know this doesn't happen because my vehicles are fitted with trackers and once in for inspection, they never leave the garage until I collect them again.

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Grandad,

So it seems that the council is relying on the certificate of calibration rather than testing the meter themselves. Interesting.

I can thus see why they're mabye a bit sniffy about who's doing it, because I think the more normal scenario is that the council tests the adjusted meter and to that extent it doesn't matter who's done the calibration.

(Incidentally, I think some councils can test the meter without the vehicle leaving the garage if they've got the necessary equipment - some sort of rolling road.)

What about a live mileage test with the vehicle driven along a measured mile set out by the Trading Standards department?

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Can I suggest that you take just one of your vehicles to the non-Pitt meter guy and see what happens.

You can then record everything and have the basis for a complaint to the Ombudsman.

And you are the right guy to do this; after all you were once a football referee, so you are pedantic by nature!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Pitts are not able to set and calibrate some of the meters that are fitted. I think there are 5 or 6 fitted to various cars. I have 2 of these myself. The council are allowing those meters to be set by another company.

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Grandad,

We have a choice of 3 garages to take the vehicles to. I don't think any of them are checking the meter in anyway shape or form.

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Grandad,

I have just had a conversation with the head of enforcement at our council and he has confirmed that we can only use Pitts for the meter change. That is what is in the policy and it can't be changed until the policy is reviewed. It may be changed in the revised policy that will be coming out for consultation in the next couple of months. The current policy can't be challenged because the time limit for challanging it expired years ago when it was written.
Another thing that he told me was that in future drivers and owners will not be consulted regarding tariff changes. The council will just tell us what the tariff will be and that will be that.

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Grandad,

I wish we had a pro-active council like that.

Providing the tariff is upwardly mobile of course.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.