Taxi Driver Online

'Call me a taxi' - but not if you're a PHV

Published: 24/06/2012 09:30

Private hire vehicle (PHV) firms could soon be banned from advertising using the word ‘taxi’ after a Hackney Carriage Association asked a licensing authority to carry out a consultation.

Bedford Hackney Carriage Association has requested that Bedford Borough Council stops private hire firms using the word when advertising their service.

But the move has been slammed as ‘trivial’ and ‘petty’ by one cab firm owner who claims he found out about the consultation on Friday – the deadline for which is tomorrow.

By law, a hackney carriage (taxi) can pick up passengers from the street or taxi rank as well as taking pre-booked passengers but PHVs can only carry customers who have booked in advance.

Currently PHVs are prevented from displaying signs which say ‘taxi’ ‘cab’ ‘taxi cab’ or ‘for hire’ and the private companies can’t use these words in their business name.

If granted, a decision of the matter – which would affect more than 700 PHVs – could be made as early as next month.

Abdul Khalid, who owns 24-7 Cars in Greyfriars, said: “When people call up they say ‘can I have a taxi?’.

“It is a common term used in day-to-day conversation. I can’t see what the Hackney Carriages are going to gain from this.

“I and many others only found out about it on Friday and so I’m urging my drivers to get their representations in before the deadline “To me it’s petty, trivial and not needed.”

Source; http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News ... 062012.htm

_________________
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's 'one of those, innit'

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

hackney carriage = taxis or cabs
PH = cars

simples innit but not to most outside the trade or even many in it

I do hate sales reps/telesales pesterers refering to my company as premier cars when it is called premier cabs as we are an all hackney fleet. The truth is as hard as you try it is nearly impossible to educate people to the difference so I can't see this working either but they are welcome to try !

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

If the LC have their way PH are going to be called 'pre-booked taxis'.

_________________
IDFIMH

The difference is in the vehicles and how they obtain work not what they do

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

I think if the LC have their way, we'll have a one-tier system so there will be no need for that.

I have this suspicion that what the trades have had so far from the bowlers at the Law Commission on this topic have all been 'googlies'!!

_________________
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.

In London, aren't PH called minicabs?

_________________
Grandad,

No PH has ever been allowed to call itself a taxi, nor should it be either, a PH office can use the word Taxi if it employs HC vehicles though iirc.

In London using the word TAXI or even TEKSI as one proprietor did [ and he was later shot in China for drug dealing] is banned cant make out why its not in yokelsville?

_________________
All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

well we have "001 Taxis" a little sign says it, however they have no oxford city council licensed hacks working for them, what they do have are the out of town "hacks" working for them.

now these out of town hacks have out of town numbers, yet you call them and you will always end up speaking to someone in oxford.

so are they a ph company or a taxi service? or are they trying to blur the distinction?

I think if you raised the issue to the correct ears you could struggle to get a 001 cab from your house in Oxford, infact I'm certain of it, which brings us round to the cross border thing again doesn't it, I can't see how a firm from one authority can legally employ cars that aren't licensed to that area, if this is the case then I should be able to get an op license and tout at Heathrow legally even though I'm 2 hours away from it.

Are they cars or are they taxis? There is nothing stopping you from advertising that you'll pick up from Heathrow or Newcastle for that matter, but, you can't tout, nobody can it's illegal

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

No I know that Toots, I was being pedantic about it, basically each area has it's own council, the council inspects the cars and licences them, nowhere should anyone have the right to licence in say Sheffield and work in Leeds full time, if you work for a Leeds company you should have a Leeds plate on the car, it seems to me PH office owners have deliberately made their own rules up and ignored the ones they are supposed to follow,

Roll it on even more stupidly and what if we had a national cab plate, so I could get a job going 200 miles away and then sit on that cities ranks hoping to get one to bring me home, because that's basically what they are doing on a smaller scale, still the more it goes on the more Vito's will go up in flames I guess, because that car got fired for one of two reasons, 1 she was taking the pee touting and upset the wrong folks, or 2 she couldn't afford it anymore and did what only the really stupid do, try to mug the insurance company, 3rd possibility is of course she's upset someone outside of the trade or someone simply hates Taxis in Manchester.

You sure know how to confuse a girl

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

thats nae hard Toots

_________________
He's the slave of all slaves who serves none but himself.

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

Alba Gu Bràth