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taxi meter in volunteer car
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41674		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  grandad [ Fri Aug 01, 2025 9:37 am ]
Post subject:  taxi meter in volunteer car
A local driver who has no longer got a license has become a volunteer driver. Can the Council insist that he remover his taxi meter from the vehicle?
Author:  heathcote [ Fri Aug 01, 2025 5:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Yes
Author:  Chris the Fish [ Fri Aug 01, 2025 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
My day to disagree with Heathcote.

The meter is only a measuring device. The Driver is allowed to keep his Odometer, he can keep the meter. He can use it, he can show what a Hackney Fare would have been. He cannot use it to show a Fare to be paid. (Wouldn't work anyway, a volunteer gets 45p per mile from home and back to home, not only when Passenger is Onboard.)

I am still a Meter Agent. I have left the Taxi Trade. I am a Volunteer Driver.
Author:  Sussex [ Fri Aug 01, 2025 6:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
grandad wrote:
A local driver who has no longer got a license has become a volunteer driver. Can the Council insist that he remover his taxi meter from the vehicle?

The council could inquire as to why he still has his meter in his car, and someone could ring him up and ask how much to the airport.
Author:  roythebus [ Wed Aug 20, 2025 10:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Sussex wrote:
grandad wrote:
A local driver who has no longer got a license has become a volunteer driver. Can the Council insist that he remover his taxi meter from the vehicle?

The council could inquire as to why he still has his meter in his car, and someone could ring him up and ask how much to the airport.
To which the answer would be 45p/mile. Then realise they're actually losing money on the set-down cost at the airport. :)
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Thu Aug 21, 2025 10:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
No

one is required in a hackney (and some PH depending on the LA) but i cannot see what jurisdiction any licensing has over a personal not plated car
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Thu Aug 21, 2025 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Sussex wrote:
grandad wrote:
A local driver who has no longer got a license has become a volunteer driver. Can the Council insist that he remover his taxi meter from the vehicle?

The council could inquire as to why he still has his meter in his car, and someone could ring him up and ask how much to the airport.


he is probably a community service or ambulance PTS car paid by the mile, the meter means nothing
Author:  grandad [ Fri Aug 22, 2025 9:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
wannabeeahack wrote:
Sussex wrote:
grandad wrote:
A local driver who has no longer got a license has become a volunteer driver. Can the Council insist that he remover his taxi meter from the vehicle?

The council could inquire as to why he still has his meter in his car, and someone could ring him up and ask how much to the airport.


he is probably a community service or ambulance PTS car paid by the mile, the meter means nothing
The information that I have been given is that in the daytime he is a volunteer with the local community transport provider but in the evenings he is taking jobs and using the meter. The meter will also be showing an incorrect tariff because the table of fares was changed a few months ago and his will not have been updated. We also have another ex driver who is not a volunteer driver but still takes bookings and uses his meter.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Fri Aug 22, 2025 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Quote:
Grandad
The information that I have been given is that in the daytime he is a volunteer with the local community transport provider but in the evenings he is taking jobs and using the meter.
The meter will also be showing an incorrect tariff because the table of fares was changed a few months ago and his will not have been updated.
We also have another ex driver who is not a volunteer driver but still takes bookings and uses his meter.


The use or installation of a meter is only relevent to its use in a licensed vehicle, the offences above are carrying passengers/accepting a booking for hire and reward when not licensed/plated/badged...
Author:  Sussex [ Fri Aug 22, 2025 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
wannabeeahack wrote:
No

one is required in a hackney (and some PH depending on the LA) but i cannot see what jurisdiction any licensing has over a personal not plated car

Licensing does have a say over those acting as taxis/PHVs without the required licenses.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Fri Aug 22, 2025 10:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Sussex wrote:
wannabeeahack wrote:
No

one is required in a hackney (and some PH depending on the LA) but i cannot see what jurisdiction any licensing has over a personal not plated car


Licensing does have a say over those acting as taxis/PHVs without the required licenses.


having a meter is not "acting" as a taxi/PH, accepting a booking - maybe, carrying a passenger - for sure but the meter is hardly "acting as a taxi"

think about ex-london cabs painted white and doing weddings.....
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Fri Aug 22, 2025 10:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
If i buy a minibus to convert to a camper and it has a tachograph fitted, am i bound by UK driver hours?
Author:  edders23 [ Wed Aug 27, 2025 5:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
whilst it isn't illegal for the vehicle to have one fitted I'm sure I read somewhere that a meter cannot be fitted without council approval. I'm sure chris will tell me I'm wrong on this but don't meter installers have to record serial numbers and tariff installed ?

If the vehicle is being used to carry fares what is the required insurance for voulunteer work ? If it's private hire then the vehicle is insured.

By accepting fares without an operators license the vehicle maybe breaching insurance T & C's
Author:  Chris the Fish [ Wed Aug 27, 2025 9:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
If you have a PH, the Local Authority can and should give approval to fit a Meter. Installer/Calibrators are usually required to pass serial numbers, Tariff etc. to the LA and, in effect, certify the Meter.

If you have a Private Car and feel the need to have an Speedometer/Odometer fitted that, once calibrated, is more accurate than the Speedometer/Odometer built into the vehicle is, you can fit a Taximeter. IT IS ONLY A MEASURING DEVICE and requires no permission.

As a Volunteer I have ordinary (In my case fully comp) insurance. I must tell my Insurer that I volunteer. They must accept that, and charge nothing extra.
Author:  StuartW [ Thu Aug 28, 2025 5:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: taxi meter in volunteer car
Forget the meter - it's an irrelevance.

The only real question is whether he's doing hire and reward work, and if he's got the appropriate licenses. Or if he's doing volunteer work, or whatever, then whether he's charging too much. The presence or otherwise of a meter per se is irrelevant.
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