Taxi Driver Online

Birmingham cab driver plans to demand upfront fares blocked by council

Fears vulnerable people would be left stranded if passengers had to hand over fare at start of journey to prevent 'bilking'



Birmingham taxi cabs Birmingham taxi cabs

Council chiefs have refused a bid by city cabbies to allow them to demand passengers hand over fares upfront – to prevent them ‘doing a runner’.

Birmingham and Solihull Taxi Alliance (BASTA) wanted to introduce signs, bearing the council logo, in both black cabs and private hire vehicles to stop the crime known as bilking.

But members of the city council’s licensing and public protection committee said the move would leave vulnerable people stranded if they could not afford to pay up front.

Coun Lynda Clinton (Lab, Tyburn), said: “I have grave concerns about people paying up front, I think it will leave people isolated and vulnerable.

“There could be old people or even children that are in a taxi and have no cash and want someone to pay for them on their behalf at the end of their journey.

“A move like this could see them left stranded without any means of getting home.”

She said she also worried how hackney carriages, who charge on a meter system, would know what fee to charge in advance.
Meanwhile, Coun Tom Kennedy (Lab, Sparkbrook), criticised taxis for not being more transparent about fares.

“There’s another side to this coin,” he said. “There’s rampant use of taxi drivers charging passengers by asking them what they usually pay, which should not be how the system works.

“I would personally like to see private hire vehicles using meters or at least having clear signs about mileage rates, which are as rare as wooden rocking horse shavings.”

Coun Majid Mahmood (Lab, Hodge Hill) suggested drastic measures to force people to pay up. “With central locking, surely passengers can be locked inside the vehicle until the police arrive,” he said.

However Chris Neville, head of licensing, dismissed the suggestion and said it would lead to passengers claiming they had been kidnapped.

Mr Neville said the signs were not necessary, adding: “Hackney carriage drivers who believe a passenger may not have the means to pay the fare or intends to run away at the end of the journey already have the right to ask for payment.”

Mohammed Rashid, chairman of BASTA, said he was disappointed that councillors had not consulted taxi drivers before making the decision.

He added: “We think the signs would make things more official.

“Drivers have problems with customers, particularly groups of lads at night times, who do runners without paying.

“We would only ask for up-front payments on the odd occasion where there is a genuine concern. Drivers would not ask kids, women or OAPs.”

source: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/lo ... nt-2769727

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

This report is erroneous.

After speaking to a senior licensing officer yesterday, who wrote the report to the licensing committee, the situation is that the council has refused a request from BASTA to have signs displayed in cabs and private hire vehicles, WITH THE BIRMINGHAM CITY LOGO AND 'FORWARD' CREST, stating that drivers may ask for MUF.

The licensing committee refused the request for the signs for plainly obvious reasons.

It is the sign and its display that has been refused, NOT the driver's wish for MUF in certain situations, as was confirmed to me by the senior licensing officer.

Newspaper sensationalism again!

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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.

What a silly statement to make, If you did not have or could prove you had the means to pay for your Taxi before you set off in one then it was obvious you had not the means to pay for it at journey's end either, and that obviously your intentions were that you never were going to pay the poor old cabbie his fare money.

Vulnerable or not, guaranteed means of payment should be sorted out before a Driver sets out and if that's MUF then fair enough, Taxis and PH's are not Volunteer drivers carrying out charity work.

I should hope so too, as we are not f***ing charities.

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IDFIMH

I take it Birmingham has no age limit?

That is not always the case though. many people simply lose their purse or wallet, or have them stolen during the course of a night out. They will have no means to pay until they get back home again where they may have a great big stash of cash.

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Grandad,

The mind of yer average punter, truly intending to pay during journey...until home, behind locked door and its "the taxi driver can sing for it, police will tell him its a civil matter..if he starts banging on door play frightened and then have him arrested for disturbing the peace.

However its hard on the really honest that have fallen short of money and the driver can only rely on instinct. Quite sure its an offence somewhere to take a Taxi without having the means to pay (T&PC ??)

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

it on our chart to say we can ask for money before ride how much easy do they want to make it for people to not pay fare and if people vunerable then they should be issue with direction for police station cabby not social worker or charity who are these people and what they say if i demand 20 superking from shop man and not pay seem ok to do it to drives but not to shop

I'm pretty sure I've read the same thing somewhere, regardless of whether payment is made at the other end if you don't have the money at the start of the hire it's an offence. Obtaining goods or services by deception maybe ?

It's the Theft Act.

If a person gets in a taxi knowing they will not be able to pay at the end, then they commit an offence if they don't offer to pay in a reasonable time.

If they get in and find out they don't have the funds at the end, and then do a runner leaving no details, then they commit an offence.

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IDFIMH

"Sorry, this feature is not available now. There may be a problem with the search you have performed. In order for us to assist and resolve the issue, please contact Democratic.Services@birmingham.gov.uk and let us know precisely what you were searching for and at what stage the error occurred."

The links at the bottom of the article from a decent website may help

http://www.national-taxi-association.co.uk/?p=5494

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

You always have the right to ask for MUF. If in ANY doubt refuse.

Had an incident last month where a couple of young ladies gave us the usual bull about "We got no money but my mum will pay you when we get home". I asked for mums number but straight to voicemail. Asked for home landline number and i got "I dont know she's just changed it". One of them tried to get lippy with "You cant leave us stranded we might get raped" . No problem we told them, and pointed to the police station where they could wait till Mum picked them up. Five minutes later they miraculously managed to dig up 12 quid from their pockets.

Charity begins at home - not on the taxi rank!

here here that man