Taxi Driver Online

If the local authority has a fixed table of fares for Hackney Carriages, Section 66 of the 1976 Act allows a driver/person taking a booking to agree a fare greater than than permitted by said table in advance of hiring with respect to journeys ending outside of your district.

Section 67 requires all bookings undertaken within your district to be charged from the point of hire according to the table of fares.

Booked journeys beginning outside the district are exempt from this restriction although a fare or rate of fare needs to be agreed in advance of hiring.

If a passenger wants to make a booking for a short journey entirely within your district but several miles away from where you are based, you have two options:

1) Send a Private Hire vehicle and agree a fare at the time of booking.

2) Refuse to take the booking. You are entitled to do this as you are not actually plying for hire at the point of hire (the issue wouldn't arise if you were )

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Steve.

i have had this argument many times in crewe ,hell of a lot of h/c have started systems here,there seems to be a new company every week here consisting of just h/c vehicles ,as crewe h/c are zoned as crewe & nantwich within cheshire east council ,crewe and nantwich is 4 miles apart and all these h/c companys are based in crewe ,there taking bookings in nantwich and charging a set fare from nantwich to nantwich on average £8 a journey with the average distance being about 1.5 to 2.0 miles this practise is illegal as there working in there zone and charging over the meter rates for these journeys but they still cont to do it

My understanding was that you can't refuse to cover a hire in your own LA, but you can give a hubigous waiting time to deter the customer from saying "That's fine, an hour and a half, no problem" (or words to that effect). Or could it be I've only worked for companies who, like me, thought it was illegal to give an outright refusal, based only on distance.

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My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.

You can refuse any private hire work. (All telephone hires are private hire work, regardless of who does them.)
If you accept it, you must ensure the hire is done.

A hack can't refuse a flag down or rank hire, except in very limited circumstances.

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

That is exactly what happens in Maidstone. The companies dont refuse, they just quote an hour or so before they can get a car out to them unless its a known customer.

There was a court case regarding flag downs, the judge surmised that HC's were not obliged to accept them, the case is on here somewhere.

In any respect, the driver is permitted reasonable excuse?

CC

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

If I remember rightly the scenario was the driver was going home after a shift (perhaps a long one, I can't remember) and the driver didn't want to be taken further away from the direction he was heading. In my opinion if a taxi driver doesn't want to be flagged down then they shouldn't have their 'for hire' sign lite. I see drivers forever passing passengers here and I'm not sure why

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

The practise is indeed illegal.

Maybe if the council approved a booking fee, which would need to be put on the tariff card, then that might help.

But charging more than the set tariff, and clearly not running on the meter, is illegal.

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IDFIMH

I'm unsure about not stopping for a flag but IMHO if you are not available for hire, your light should not be on.

Having stopped for the passenger, it would be contrary to our conditions of licence to refuse the hire. I would imagine most places have similar conditions or byelaws about refusing to drive someone to a destination within the licensed area.

Yes, reasonable excuse is permitted. Some are even mentioned in the conditions - unfit through drink or drugs, filthy, vermin upon their person, too many passengers or too much luggage, smoking etc - but the distance being too short or going in the wrong direction would not IMHO be accepted as a reasonable excuse.

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

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2399&highlight=refusal

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3777&highlight=goodman

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

Moot points. You can refuse any booking, which is relevant to the OP.

The polite way to do it is, "we haven't got a car in your area."

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Steve.

It's not a licensing issue & that's the case in Brum; Licensing Department don't check our taximeters for accuracy!!

But Brum's Licensing Department ask Brum Trading Standards to check the accuracy of HC taximeters, which they do annually & raise a council cross departmental invoice, believed to be about £30K, which Licensing Department transfer into the coffers of Brum Trading Standards Department.

The point is, if a Table of Fares, let's say which was derived from the local taxi trade is on show, then Trading Standards have every right to test the taximeters for accuracy to that Table of Fares.

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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.

It gripes me when I've got to travel 5 miles for a £2.80 job then travel 5 miles back.

Don't do it then.

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Former taxi driver

That would seem the most logical thing to do.

CC

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