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PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:27 pm 
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Taxi firms accused of ‘profiteering’ from Bath CAZ

SOME taxi operators carrying passengers from Wiltshire into Bath have been accused of “profiteering” from the Clean Air Zone charge.

Paul Carter, of Paul’s Taxi in Melksham, says customers are being “overcharged” by some taxi firms which are imposing the £9 CAZ daily charge on their passengers.

"By law, if you have a meter fitted, you cannot charge more than what's on the meter," said Mr Carter, 51.

The CAZ charge applies to Euro 1-5/V diesel and Euro 1 to 3 petrol (or earlier) cars or minibuses whether the vehicle is being used privately or commercially.

Hackney carriage taxis on taxi ranks are not allowed to pass on the charge – customers should only pay what is shown on their meter.

But private hire firms are allowed to charge whatever they like if no meter is fitted or has been taken out, as the taxi fare is then a private transaction between operator and customer.

Mr Carter said: “I raised my concerns regarding the CAZ with Fleet Licencing at Wiltshire Council months ago to explain that Melksham companies were passing the £9 per day fee onto the customer.

“This is against the conditions of a hackney carriage licence. This also has implications for villages en-route to Bath.

“The fare from Melksham to Bath is approximately £30. From Shaw Hill this would be approximately £25. If the £9 fee is charged to the taxi, they will receive £18 for a £30 fare.

“Is it worth their while? I suggest not, which means the villages will not be served well if the fee is not passed on. I raised this concern with Melksham Without Parish Council around April/May.

“Customers have told me that the charge has been passed to them and they have even cancelled bookings with other companies to be driven by me (at my expense as I have to pay the fee) when I have explained the situation.

“I have been told first hand by a proprietor in Melksham that he gives customers the choice of paying the fee or being dropped off on the London Road before the charging zone. This is not allowed. We are not allowed to pass this fee on to the customer.”

Mr Carter has been a taxi driver for the past 21 years. He says: “Anecdotally, I have heard of issues in other towns” where some taxi firms are passing on the £9 charge to customers.

He has complained to Wiltshire Council’s Taxi Licencing department and was told the issue of CAZ charging would be raised in a newsletter to all taxi drivers in Wiltshire.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:29 pm 
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Quote:
"By law, if you have a meter fitted, you cannot charge more than what's on the meter," said Mr Carter, 51.

#-o

Quote:
Mr Carter said: “I raised my concerns regarding the CAZ with Fleet Licencing at Wiltshire Council months ago to explain that Melksham companies were passing the £9 per day fee onto the customer.

A cab driver moaning about other drivers passing on a cost that they have had to fund themselves.

For f*** f***ing sake. ](*,)

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:50 am 
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He's saying it's uneconomic to do the metered run because of the CAZ charge, yet moaning that drivers are charging it ](*,)

And, presumably, nothing wrong with an HC charging it anyway, because it's cross-border (from Wiltshire Council to Bath & North-East Somerset Council, presumably).

21 years in the trade and he doesn't know that? :-s


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:09 pm 
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Well, our tariff sheet states, “Mandatory road fees and tolls will be charged and added separately to the fare”


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:19 pm 
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Hadn't thought of that, to be honest, but looks like there are no similar charges on the Wiltshire card, and in fact apart from the fact that their fares are very high, excepting the fouling charge there are no extras at all.

https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/media/1124 ... 5998400000

And, of course, because it's a cross-border run at question in the article, all of that should be irrelevant anyway.

But I could see the whole CAZ thing and similar charges being a can of worms in coming years as regards tariff cards and the like, particularly given the different approaches and wording of individual local authorities regarding the levying of such charges.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:51 pm 
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x-ray wrote:
Well, our tariff sheet states, “Mandatory road fees and tolls will be charged and added separately to the fare”

And quite rightly too. =D>

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:54 am 
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He's at it again :P


Council consults on 10 per cent rise in taxi fares as fuel prices rise

https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/2 ... ices-rise/

WILTSHIRE Council is consulting taxi drivers across the county about a possible 10 per cent rise in fares to help overcome the dramatic increase in fuel prices.

The move has been made following concerns that fares are not matching the recent rise in fuel prices which has seen them leap to 199.9p per litre for diesel.

One Melksham taxi driver, Paul Carter, of Paul’s Taxi, complained to the council that some taxi operators are passing fuel surcharges onto their customers due to the rising fuel costs.

Mr Carter, 51, said: “Customers of mine have recently started to ask me, unsolicited, why I wasn't passing on the fuel surcharge that another local company was charging?

“There is no surcharge. We are not allowed to charge more than is on the meter. Other companies have confirmed similar from their customers when using another company.

“I was told that Taxi Licencing had spoken to the company following my complaint, who denied the accusation, and yet I was told by a customer this morning that that the owner charged a pound more than the fare I charged (the meter). They did not check the meter but paid as instructed.

“There is now pressure from the taxi industry for a rise in fares when this behaviour is taking place. I am against this rise as all cost-saving measures have hardly been touched on, let alone fully explored.”

Councillor Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We have been in communication with Mr Carter about the concerns he has raised.

“Wiltshire Council takes allegations of overcharging very seriously and will investigate all complaints. If there is proof that a taxi driver has knowingly overcharged, we will take enforcement action.

“We are aware of this report and have commenced an investigation with the outcome being subject to the evidence being provided.”

“We issue a regular newsletter to all taxi drivers in Wiltshire and will make it clear that additional charges such as the Clean Air Zone and fuel surcharges cannot be made.

“We are consulting Wiltshire licensing hackney carriage drivers on whether to raise the tariff 1 fare rate by 10 per cent (other tariff rates would remain as they are).

“This consultation ends on 13 July, and once complete the feedback and findings will be taken to the Licensing Committee, which will make a decision.”

To report concerns, go to Fleet.licensing@wiltshire.gov.uk or via the complaints form at Taxi complaint - Wiltshire Council.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 5:37 pm 
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One Melksham taxi driver, Paul Carter, of Paul’s Taxi, complained to the council that some taxi operators are passing fuel surcharges onto their customers due to the rising fuel costs.

As this fella is unaware of when you must charge the meter rate, and when you don't have to, I take what he says with a large bucket of salt.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:39 pm 
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Clearly Wiltshire has its own act, as it appears to be taking no notice of the acts that apply to the rest of England. #-o

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-g ... e-62295649

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:45 am 
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Well obviously the licensing section has provided the lead councillor with chapter and verse on cross-border fares and the like, so quite good clarification of the relevant law here.

But slightly odd comments from the taxi driver at the start of the article.

Kind of gives the impression he's been asked a difficult question about it all, or just doesn't have a clue. Or he's just realised he's been breaking the rules. Or something like that :?


How fuel costs are affecting taxis in Marlborough

https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news ... rlborough/

A taxi driver in Marlborough has said he wants to ‘bury his head in the sand’ at the thought of rising fuel costs.

The taxi business has been facing the issue of rocketing fuel prices in the area- and Ian Dinmamode who runs Amber Cars in the town is one of the businesses feeling the pressure.

“I’ve been burying my head in the sand at the thought of it”, Ian said.

“We’ve had to use our meters to price up journeys and make sure customers are aware of the price before setting off. But a journey that should have cost someone £15 can now be £18.”

Council officials are currently investigating complaints that some Wiltshire drivers have broken the rules by overcharging customers and shouldn’t be ‘making up prices.’

Wiltshire Council has just completed a consultation with all hackney carriage licence holders in the county on proposals to increase the tariff 1 fare rate, from 6am to 10.30pm, by 10%.

All other tariffs would remain as they are under these proposals, according to the council.

Ian also explained that working out prices can prove to be challenging, as the cost can be affected by whether or not passengers are going outside of the county.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport said; “When a taxi journey crosses out of Wiltshire and into a neighbouring licensing area there are two options for charging depending upon whether the journey is prebooked i.e. Private Hire or if the customer is picked up from a taxi rank or the street i.e. Hackney Carriage.

“If a Hackney Carriage journey ends outside of the licensing area the driver can either use the meter and charge the metered rate for the whole journey or agree on a fare upfront with the customer.

"A taxi driver can only agree on a fare above the metered Hackney Carriage rate if a journey ends outside of the metered area, in this case, Wiltshire, and the fare is agreed with the customer before the journey starts.

“For journeys that start and end within Wiltshire any fare agreed upfront cannot be more than the metered fare.

“Internet maps enable taxi drivers to work out journey distances and the cost accurately based on our schedule of hackney carriage fares.

“For prebooked, Private Hire journeys the driver and customer can agree on a fare that is acceptable to both when the booking is made. The driver would have to price this competitively to secure the business.”


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:54 am 
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Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport wrote:
“Internet maps enable taxi drivers to work out journey distances and the cost accurately based on our schedule of hackney carriage fares."

All while tapping their pipe out on the pavement, or some equally challenging example of 'multi-tasking' :lol:


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:59 pm 
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“We’ve had to use our meters to price up journeys and make sure customers are aware of the price before setting off. But a journey that should have cost someone £15 can now be £18.”

Goodness me, how on earth will the world cope with that rise? [-(

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