Taxi Driver Online

When I get my cab licence I was thinking of getting some cards made up with my mobile number to give out to neighbours & friends. The idea is they would call me whenever they need a cab and I would do the job off the meter, for a lower fixed price.
Is it againist cab office rules to do this ? If it's a big no no, i'll forget it.

If you are talking about becoming a private hire driver then you can perfectly legally do this in Scotland as long as your friends prebook you on your phone, ie if they were out one Saturday night & you happened to spot them you couldn't stop & pick them up there and then.

Having said that I don't think fellow drivers at the company you rent your radio from would be too happy if you, as they would see it, steal work from them

Good luck

Apologies, I should have notices your name gave away a big clue as to what section of the trade you were joining !

I was worried about what other drivers would say, but it would only be a handful of cards for mates, & family, not a free for all

seen this happen time and time again.

that situation can get very messy and ugly very quickly my friend.

the reasons ..............

your fellow work mates will give you sh**.....because it will get to the stage ( if you are a popular fellow ) that your friends will give out your number saying your cab is better than the rest.....phone you direct instead of phoning through the company....
you get more work and your fellow workers get to resent what you are doing....basically taking the work from there own door step....
if you wanna do that....start up yourself .

like i said....it can get very nasty indeed...guys have had there cars done with paint stripper and such like....
but...at the end of the day....

its your head....or rather car .

your choice.....

cheers.............johnny

By cab office do you mean the council or the office you work for?

If it's the office you work for then you would be best to ask them.

I think some offices don't allow it, but others tolerate it, because some know that drivers may jump ship if they aren't allowed to do their own work.

As the others have said it can cause friction though, for example if it's a small office they may be waiting for your clearing but don't know that you are about to do one of your private runs.

But as long as your sensible then it shouldn't cause a problem - the one big no no would be giving your own number to people who have phoned the office - this wouldn't go down well with the office or your fellow drivers.

As long as you don't exceed your council tariff, then you are fine.

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IDFIMH

It also depends on who's operators licence your driving under. IRC

Thanks for the advice It's a black hack i'll be driving so it's not a small office (lot more drivers to kick my ar*e though )
What's a "council tariff" ?

Posh word for fares chart.

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IDFIMH

I don't know if the rules are different up there, but thought the law was inside your own area a Hack has to use the meter to be legal.

That's a valid point, but as you are allowed (legally) to charge what you like under the meter, then I suppose he could just run around with the meter on but take no notice of it.

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IDFIMH

Is that in the Act or just local rules?

Seems a bit daft that you have to use the meter but at the same time can charge less than what's on it.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I don't think theres anything in the Scottish Act, so it may be in the councils rules, but in St Andrews theres nothing in the rules and lots of the locla taxis do runs off meter and go around with punters in the car but with the roof light on.

In fact in some parts of the licensing area - mainly coastal villages - apparently the locals can get a bit stroppy if the get into a taxi and the driver puts the meter on.

A bit like when you go into a shop when you buy something and they ring the till

or don't put the meter on mate I'm paying cash