| Taxi Driver Online http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/ |
|
| Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22227 |
Page 1 of 2 |
| Author: | SteveB69 [ Wed May 15, 2013 8:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
Within my licensing district there is only one garage that is allowed to do the mechanical inspection test. This is the councils own workshop. 20 years ago any MOT garage could do it, I left the taxi game for a lot of years, until recently & find this situation very strange to have been allowed, is this not a monopoly, they set their own prices, their are only 2 - 3 mechanics, anyone of the 400 odd taxi / ph drivers who fall out with anyone at this garage beware... Can anything be done about this? I'd appreciate some pointers? |
|
| Author: | roythebus [ Wed May 15, 2013 10:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
In my area it's all done by one garage. The contract was put out to tender recently as the last contract expired. I gather there was only one bid submitted, and that was by the incumbent garage. That garage is what you'd call a back street garage; I ran a check on them with VOSA who came back with a good report on them. Ther e's been no problems with that garage and they do give a good service with the cabbies as they understand the need to get cars back on the road quickly. I find it strange that any council still has its own workshops. Maybe FoI the council and ask if the job has been put out to competitive tender. |
|
| Author: | mancityfan [ Wed May 15, 2013 10:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
SteveB69 wrote: Within my licensing district there is only one garage that is allowed to do the mechanical inspection test. This is the councils own workshop. 20 years ago any MOT garage could do it, I left the taxi game for a lot of years, until recently & find this situation very strange to have been allowed, is this not a monopoly, they set their own prices, their are only 2 - 3 mechanics, anyone of the 400 odd taxi / ph drivers who fall out with anyone at this garage beware... Can anything be done about this? I'd appreciate some pointers? TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE LICENSING: BEST PRACTICE GUIDANCE Number Of Testing Stations. There is sometimes criticism that local authorities provide only one testing centre for their area (which may be geographically extensive). So it is good practice for local authorities to consider having more than one testing station. There could be an advantage in contracting out the testing work, and to different garages. In that way the licensing authority can benefit from competition in costs. (The Vehicle Operators and Standards Agency – VOSA – may be able to assist where there are local difficulties in provision of testing stations.) |
|
| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Wed May 15, 2013 10:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
any MOT twice a year should suffice, together with a check by the LO... |
|
| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 15, 2013 10:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
wannabeeahack wrote: together with a check by the LO... who has qualifications in engineering? |
|
| Author: | captain cab [ Wed May 15, 2013 10:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
SteveB69 wrote: Within my licensing district there is only one garage that is allowed to do the mechanical inspection test. This is the councils own workshop. 20 years ago any MOT garage could do it, I left the taxi game for a lot of years, until recently & find this situation very strange to have been allowed, is this not a monopoly, they set their own prices, their are only 2 - 3 mechanics, anyone of the 400 odd taxi / ph drivers who fall out with anyone at this garage beware... Can anything be done about this? I'd appreciate some pointers? How much are your inspections? How often are your inspections? How much are retests? Is there a free retest if brought back within a certain period? |
|
| Author: | roythebus [ Wed May 15, 2013 11:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
In my area the 2 tests and any retests are free to the driver. the council picks up the tab for it all. |
|
| Author: | captain cab [ Thu May 16, 2013 7:38 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
roythebus wrote: In my area the 2 tests and any retests are free to the driver. the council picks up the tab for it all. How much is your license fee? |
|
| Author: | Sussex [ Thu May 16, 2013 7:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
SteveB69 wrote: Can anything be done about this? Yes. You need to outline your, and your colleagues, concerns and ask the chair of licensing for a review. Or better still ring him up. That's what they are there for. And if that doesn't work write to the Office of Fair Trading. |
|
| Author: | sasha [ Thu May 16, 2013 7:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
Our council replaced MOTs for compliance checks. You can still go to any garage for an MOT if you wish but you MUST have a compliance check which is only done by the council at its garage. If you have a compliance check you don't need an MOT and the council wont' accept an MOT for the licence, they won't even accept compliance checks from neighbouring LA's garages. However the biggest gripe I have is that the councils garage is an MOT test centre, an ordinary member of the public can phone up an book a time slot for any day at any time but taxi tests are only done one day a week on a first come basis - so the first person to book gets 9am the second 10am etc. taxis have no choice on what day or time to be tested. But what's the difference between a member of the public wanting a test at 3pm on a Wednesday and a taxi wanting one at the same time ? |
|
| Author: | roythebus [ Fri May 17, 2013 7:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
captain cab wrote: roythebus wrote: In my area the 2 tests and any retests are free to the driver. the council picks up the tab for it all. How much is your license fee? Operators licence fee now £307 a year, was £280. |
|
| Author: | SteveB69 [ Fri May 17, 2013 12:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
Quote: Operators licence fee now £307 a year, was £280. For how many vehicles is that? |
|
| Author: | roythebus [ Fri May 17, 2013 2:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
Each vehicle. |
|
| Author: | mancityfan [ Fri May 17, 2013 5:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
roythebus wrote: captain cab wrote: roythebus wrote: In my area the 2 tests and any retests are free to the driver. the council picks up the tab for it all. How much is your license fee? Operators licence fee now £307 a year, was £280. There's nothing in the act that says they can charge anything at all? |
|
| Author: | mancityfan [ Fri May 17, 2013 5:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Council monopoly on Taxi & PH Licensing Garage |
roythebus wrote: Each vehicle. That's ridiculous. |
|
| Page 1 of 2 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|