Taxi Driver Online

'They don't know where they're going' - Leicester taxi drivers hit out at cabbies from other cities working here

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... ng-2272796

Taxi drivers from other areas are picking up fares in the city

Taxi drivers in Leicester have called on the council to do more to stop drivers who are licensed in other areas picking up fares in the city.

They say that more lenient rules in other areas mean that drivers are registering with other local authorities and operating in the city centre.

Ranjit Chahla, manager of ABC Taxis, said: “I’m regularly approached by drivers that have plates from out of the city asking if we’ll take them on.

"Since I took over in May there’s been at least one driver a month coming to me with a Wolverhampton licence but we have a policy here that we only take drivers with plates from Leicester or Oadby.

“There are drivers from other areas too but it is mainly Wolverhampton.

“The rules there are more lenient there so you can register older cars and there’s not a long wait either.

“In the city there is a waiting list but the wait means that the people working in Leicester have been approved and gone through the right checks.

“The rules in Leicester are strict but that means passengers are safe and that’s important to us.”

Drivers here say that Leicester City Council criteria dictates that cars can be no older than five when they are registered.

In Wolverhampton cars being registered for the first time can be up to twelve-years-old.

According to the drivers applications are also processed a lot quicker in Wolverhampton.

Ranjit added: “With the Wolverhampton licensed drivers coming into the city we have a situation where they can drive into the city and pick up fares on Friday and Saturday nights and that’s stopping us from picking people up.

“They don’t follow the rules, they just stop anywhere, pick people up who haven’t booked and most of them don’t even know where they are going.

“The problem is people don’t know what plates mean what and with Uber now some taxis don’t even have lights on the top.

“If a driver pulls up and says they are a taxi people believe them and get in and that might not be the case.”

Mohammed Patel is a black cab driver who works in the city. He shares Ranjit’s concerns.

He said: “There are drivers from all over coming into the city and picking fares up and they don’t follow the same rules as everyone else.

"They don’t follow any rules and because they’re licensed out of the area there’s nothing anyone can do.

“Passengers don’t know where their driver is from, they think if they’re getting in a taxi in Leicester then that taxi is from Leicester but that’s not always the case.

“The council have wardens keeping an eye on us but they can’t do anything about the drivers that are licensed elsewhere.”

Cabbies in Loughborough staged a protest last year against cross border hiring.

Around 80 drivers staged a go slow procession bringing traffic in the town centre to a standstill.


Loughborough protest (Image: Leicestershire Live)

What does the council say about the issue?

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: “Changes to the law around taxi licensing, brought in by the Deregulation Act 2015, mean that drivers with a private-hire licence from a local authority can use it to operate anywhere in England and Wales.

“We are aware of the concerns of local private hire operators, drivers and passengers. We have supported the calls made by Transport for London for legislative changes to address the problems associated with cross border hiring.

"This formed part of a recent ministerial working party report on the subject, and we await the Government’s response.”


Why the taxi that takes you home tonight might not be registered in Leicester

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... ht-2273222

Local cabbies want more to be done to stop cross border hiring

Passengers might not pay much attention to the plates or stickers on a taxi that turns up to take them home from a night out but drivers in Leicester say that they should.

And cabbies have called on the council to do more to stop drivers registered in other cities picking up fares here too.

A change in the law back in 2015 means that drivers don’t have to live or operate in the local authority area that grants them their licence.

That has led to drivers from other areas coming into the city and picking up fares.

Why does it matter?

Leicester drivers say that other areas have less stringent checks and easier and shorter application processes.

They say that drivers that come from other areas, or register with other local authorities, can’t be regulated in the same way that they are because Leicester hasn’t issued their licences.

According to them this puts the public at higher risk.

Why do drivers register elsewhere?

It is often cheaper and quicker to get a taxi licence elsewhere.

In Wolverhampton their council dished out twelve times the amount of licences in 2018 than it did in 2014 before the Deregulation Act 2015, which local drivers say is threatening their livelihoods, came into force.

What does it cost in Wolverhampton?

A new driver application to City of Wolverhampton Council costs £69 and plates are usually available for collection within 20 days.

Drivers are asked to complete a driver training programme, which includes a verbal assessment in English, training on how to spot child sexual exploitation and they undergo a DVLA and criminal records DBS check.

They must prove they are allowed to work in the UK, have had a valid driving licence for 12 months and take a medical.

What does it cost in Leicester?

In Leicester an application for a one year licence is £121 plus £44 for an enhanced DBS check.

The applicant has to complete a medical, a practical driving assessment, the Leicester City Council knowledge test and, if born outside the UK, a spoken English assessment.

DVLA licences are also checked for any motoring offences.

The length of time the application process takes varies a lot and, according to the council, ‘largely depends on the applicant’s willingness and ability to complete all of the checks’.

Why is it cheaper in Wolverhampton?

We asked Councillor Alan Bolshaw, chairman of City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee.

He said: “The Deregulation Act enabled private hire operators and drivers to choose where they apply for their licences.

“City of Wolverhampton Council has invested in a state of the art online system which enables us to process licences much faster than most other areas.

“This makes us an attractive proposition to drivers who are choosing to apply here and we cannot turn them away providing they meet our stringent standards.

“We take the issue of passenger safety extremely seriously and our standards are among the best anywhere in the country and have been recognised by the Home Office which has urged other areas to adopt our guidelines.”

I have recently had issues with a Charnwood plated Hackney working on the UBER platform. Both Melton Council and Charnwood say that it is fine.

_________________
Grandad,

But Charnwood have an ‘intended use policy’.

Have you asked them how they propose to enforce that policy?

_________________
IDFIMH

I haven't yet but it will now be on my list. The chap has not been around for a bit, probably because of the school hols so I will have to keep an eye out again next week.

_________________
Grandad,

Have Charnwood got a clue, never mind an intended use policy?

(See post in licensing section.)