Taxi Driver Online

Derby cabbies protest over 'unfair' licence charge





Derby Hackney Union's Mohammed Saffaf.


TAXI drivers have staged a demonstration to protest that their fees are set to increase while other drivers could see their costs fall.

Hackney carriage drivers have been left angry by the proposed increases in fees for their licences from £108 a year to £116 a year while private hire cabs are set to see their licence fees drop from £108 to £94.

The proposals were put forward by Derby City Council in February and hackney cab drivers, who have already raised objections to the council, have now taken to the streets. Mohammed Saffaf, chairman of the Derby Hackney Union, took part in yesterday's protest outside the Council House.

Mr Saffaf, who has been a taxi driver in Derby for 18 years, said: "I was horrified when I heard that their fees were going down and ours were going up.

"There is £25 difference between the two which is a complete joke. It feels like they are taking the money off us to subsidise their fees.

"They are victimising us and being biased against hackney cab drivers. It's not on and, whichever way you look at it, it doesn't make sense.

"I want the fees to be fair for everyone."

The city council says the fees charged for licenses are reviewed each year and the licensing is self-financing and not for profit.

The council says that it sets the fees and charges at a level to recover the total costs incurred in providing the service.

However, a legal case brought against Cardiff Council means that accounts for hackney and private hire licences must be kept separate.

That means any surplus or deficit generated in any financial year for any one type of licence must be used to offset that particular type of licence only in the following financial year.

This means that separate licence fees and charges will need to be calculated for each particular type of licence independently of each other and it will fluctuate each year.

The fees are calculated by reviewing how much time is spent dealing with each licence, how many licences of each type are received and the staffing level needed to deal with that number.

A Derby City Council spokesman said: "We were not officially informed of the protest or the reasons for it. We understand that it took place in relation to the on-going review of hackney carriage and private hire drivers, vehicles and operator fees and charges which we review each year.

"Following a statutory consultation period, the four objections that were received are now being reviewed. The licence fees will therefore remain the same until the outcome of that review.

"The trade representatives were informed of the situation yesterday."


Read more: http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-c ... z3WFi6qxCl

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

I'm not sure what a private hire cab is? But I dont know what there moaning about, it sounds like they were not consulted, so there's grounds to get it kicked out.

The 2nd to last line mentions the consultation and the objections.
I suppose it depends what is classed as a consultation. Here the fees are set and advertised and the period between the advert and the start date is the consultation period.

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Grandad,

Looking at this the council explanation seems pretty sh*t

Why didn't they give the reason - as opposed to merely mentioning the Cardiff case?

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

Did the Cardiff case say that private hire fees and hackney carriage fees must be kept separate from each other?

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Grandad,

I agree, but newspapers only print what they want, and they clearly don't understand the difference between a Hackney and private hire vehicle, well I hope it wasn't a direct quote from the council

I missed it I guess the 4 objectors were not consulted?

Sort of, but more importantly each side of the trade should pay for the costs of each side of the trade.

Down here over the next few years, PH licenses are going down and hackneys are going up. Evidence methinks that the hackney trade needs more resources for their enforcement.

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IDFIMH