Panel approves increase in RBWM daytime taxi fares with potential for further rises

Councillors have unanimously voted in favour of an increase in daytime Hackney carriage fares in the Royal Borough – and further rises could be considered for larger taxis.

The Hackney carriage drivers’ tariff was last increased in 2022.

Last year, a group of drivers put forward a petition calling on the council to approve a 10 per cent price increase for the day tariff.

They also wanted to see the minimum day fare increase from £6 to £7.

There would be no change in price for the nighttime fare, which is in effect from 11pm to 6am, and on bank holidays.

The Royal Borough’s licensing panel unanimously agreed these changes on Monday (February 9) after the proposals went out for a 14-day consultation.

A 50 per cent surcharge on the standard daytime and nighttime tariffs is already in place for Hackney carriages carrying five or more people.

At the Town Hall meeting, Greg Nelson, the council’s trading standards and licensing manager, said: “This was agreed and introduced in 2022 to reflect the extra work and time taken with large groups of passengers in larger licensed vehicles.”

A report which went before councillors said some drivers had ‘misunderstood’ proposed changes to the taxi tariffs and thought the minimum daytime fare for these larger vehicles would rise from £6 to £9.

Mr Nelson added: “What was not intended was that, as well as this [surcharge], these journeys would also be subject to a minimum fare of 50 per cent higher than the minimum fare.

“The intention was that the minimum fare, which is currently £6, would be the same for all vehicles for all journeys.”

Officers considered that otherwise, having a 50 per cent increase to the minimum fare on top of the 50 per cent surcharge would be ‘unfair’ and ‘excessive’ for passengers, he added.

A Hackney carriage drivers’ representative told councillors that all tariffs should have been looked at ‘on an individual basis’.

He said that increasing the minimum day fare from £6 to £7 is ‘paramount’ now, with the tariff changes for bigger people carriers to be looked at later.

Councillors backed the taxi drivers and said the increase to the minimum fare would help, but ‘disproportionately disadvantage’ larger Hackney carriages.

Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) said: “The drivers with the larger vehicles, obviously, if we just go with option one [the proposed change], they’re disproportionately disadvantaged, I suppose, because they’ve got the larger vehicles, they’re spending more money on the cars generally.

“They’ve got more costs, but the fare is about the same as [smaller] Hackneys.”

Cllr Simon Bond (Lib Dem, Belmont) and Cllr Neil Knowles (Ind, Old Windsor) agreed the minimum fare increase should be adopted now.

“I think then we would give some certainty to the Hackney drivers because we would be proceeding now, otherwise they’re going to wait another month, two months,” Cllr Knowles said.

But he said the option to increase the minimum fare for larger vehicles to be 50 per cent higher than the standard should also be reviewed ‘at a later point’.

Cllr Bond also said that this further increase for larger vehicles should be looked at ‘as soon as possible’.

Ultimately, councillors agreed to enact the increase in the day tariff by 10 per cent, with the minimum fare to be increased from £6 to £7.

But they also agreed to consult with the public on a potential further increase to the minimum fare for Hackney carriages carrying five or more people.