Taxi Driver Online

By the way, from the earlier thread it looked as if the Ayrshire council sets fares for all PH - very dody if you ask me!

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=39167

I have e-mailed Edinburgh Council's licensing department to get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as to whether Edinburgh council can set PH fares.


Alex

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ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

Simply the best taxi forum in the whole wide world. www.taxi-driver.co.uk

think that if your car has a taximeter fitted you will have to charge what is set on the tariff table and as sussex says his firm charge "taxi mettered fares" and a lot of other companys work that way as well

But councils can only do what they are allowed to do through legislation, so how can they tell you what to do inrelation to a PH car's fares when the legislation doesn't give them that power?

have a look.....

Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982

Section 17 -Taxi Fares


No legislative changes appear to be required here but the Task Group concluded that guidance is necessary, from either the Scottish Executive or CoSLA, in relation to the administrative charges levied by radio circuits in negotiated contracts. The Task Group found that it was fairly common practice for such administrative charges to be levied in addition to the fare displayed on the taximeter. However, the legislation is clear on this in that section 21(5) states that any person who demands fares or other charges in excess of scales established is guilty of an offence. Consequently such practice is illegal and these charges have to be either absorbed as part of the fare or the taximeter programmed to take account of the additional charges.

this is the link if you want a look
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultation ... lpc-05.asp

It looks like to me the council are burring the edges between the taxi trade and the PH trade.

Quite a regular occurance, but always an illegal one.

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IDFIMH

Gosh, whatever next? We'll soon be getting the PH trade "blurring the edges" and we wouldn't want that, would we?

The PH trade can only blur the edges with the support, either directly or indirectly, of the council.

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IDFIMH

So Chip, are you saying that this means that councils are correct in controlling PH fares?

I think the fact that the review said that no changes were required and made no mention of councils controlling PH fares just shows how out of touch with things the "task group" was.

The legislation is quite distinct in its use of the words taxi and private hire, but in the Section 17 mentioned above says:

"The fares for the hire of taxis in any area.......shall be not greater than those fixed for that area under this section and section 18 of this Act."

No mention of PH there, and no other section in the Act that could possible give councils the power.

The book I have is written by a couple of advocates (barristers) and their notes say: "This section makes it mandatory for the licensing authority to fix maximum fares in relation to taxi hires, and provides for a regular review of the same. The section does not apply to private hire cars.....

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, i wish i could work Edinborough for a week, i love a good row with a LA when i know he's wrong!!!

Sorry i spelt Edinborough the ENGLISH way!

wot u mean its not in England?

If any person demands fares or other charges in respect of the hire of a taxi or for the hire of a private hire car which is fitted with a taximeter in excess of the scales established under sections 17 and 18 of this Act, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £2,500.

The Act being the Civic Government (Scotland) Act of 1982.

Regards

AG

That's interesting. As you may have noticed from my post the other day, it seems that there's no power to set fares for PHVs in sections 17 and 18, so presumably the offence referred to is irrelevant?

At the very least it seems like a massive contradiction in the Civic Govt Act.

Any ideas?

Strange that up there a PH can be convicted of an offence that doesn't apply to them.

Maybe someone should ask the authorities what the existing PH tariff is.

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IDFIMH