All taxis operating in the St Albans District will have to accept contactless payments and can no longer be cash only.
The rule is intended to improve public safety by ensuring people are not left stranded because they do not have cash.
It follows a growing number of complaints from people who were unable to get a taxi late at night because they only had a card.
The decision to make a contactless payments option mandatory was made by St Albans City and District Counci after consulting with taxi drivers and their representatives.
Taxi drivers will have until Wednesday 3 May to comply with the new regulation by equipping their vehicles with card machines or they risk losing their licence.
The machines are able to take contactless payments from mobile phone apps such as Apple Pay as well as bank cards.
Councillor Raj Visram, Chair of the Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee, said: "Many taxis carry card machines already, but there are some that still choose not to.
"We felt there was clear support for making contactless payments mandatory as more and more people no longer carry cash.
"We live in a digital age and this new rule not only recognises that, but will also improve public safety by ensuring people are not left in a vulnerable situation by not having cash to pay for a taxi home.
"This change will also be good for the local taxi trade as those drivers who chose to be cash only were missing a lot of business."
Source: https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/news/contactless-payments-made-mandatory-option-taxis-st-albans-district
Taxi drivers in Tunbridge Wells are being ‘encouraged’ to accept card payments and to not always insist customers pay in cash.
The Times of Tunbridge Wells reports that the borough council has been forced to act after passengers have been left frustrated by drivers who insist on cash payments to avoid paying costly card transaction fees.
Customers have complained on social media about being turned away from taxis when they cannot pay in cash.
However, Tunbridge Wells taxi drivers have explained how the costly transaction fees, signal ‘cold spots’, and bank payment disputes have affected their business.
Taxi driver, Clayton Berry of Cleggy’s Taxi told the Times: “The fees on card payments for drivers is very high, which is why many only accept cash. We get charged 1.79 per cent for taking a card payment and up to 2 per cent on an international card like Amex.
“Taxi drivers are already paying for licensing, petrol, and the vehicle, and this is another cost on top.
“We are stuck to the meter price, set by the council and we cannot increase our fares to cover the extra cost, unlike private hires can.
Toni Conlon, of Tunbridge Wells 888, said: “We are having to pay up to 3.5 per cent on some transaction fees and I don’t know how many other people have to put up with that.
“Sometimes we have to wait up to a week to get paid by the [card] companies with some of my friends waiting up to six weeks for a transaction.
“There are also many cold spots around Tunbridge Wells where there is no signal on the customer’s phone or our card reader – these are usually around Mayfield and Crowborough.
“You then have to drive around finding signal which makes the meter go up and customers get annoyed.
"They have also been times when people’s phones have run out of charge or people have forgotten their PIN number,” Mr Conlon explained.
“There have been cases when people dispute the payment with the bank as an ‘unrecognised transaction’ and they can claim the money back – it has happened to around three drivers I know.”
Former Tunbridge Wells councillor David Scott, who maintains an interest in bus and taxi transport, pointed out the disadvantages of taxi drivers taking card payments.
He said: “One of the existing problems is that they often end up being delivered to somewhere without mobile reception.
“You get to the end of the journey and then they can’t take it [the payment].”
In a poll run by the Times recently, 84 per cent of respondents said they had experienced ‘cash only’ taxis, with many online comments calling for the council to make all drivers have a card reader.
One commenter said: “Come on TWBC, get cards made mandatory, as well as cash, and do it soon! It’s obviously infuriating people.”
Mr Berry of Cleggy’s Taxi explained: “Around 25 to 30 per cent of drivers take cards and the rest prefer cash payments unless it is a long journey where they can make a good profit.
“At the moment the council does not require taxi drivers to take cards, but all hackney carriages must abide by the licensing rules laid out by the council.”
“I think more drivers should take cards – I do with no issues – but I understand why they don’t because they lose money.”
The borough council is aware of the issues and said it has written to the taxi drivers in the hope of encouraging more drivers to take card payments.
Luke Everitt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, said: “I can understand how frustrating it is to find that a taxi is cash only when you just want to get on with your journey.
“Under existing council policy, drivers are not obliged to accept card payments. It is a business decision on their part which I’m sure is influenced by the transaction fees they might incur.
"If a passenger does not have an alternative means of payment the driver would be within their rights to decline the fare.
“That said, the council’s Licensing Team has recently written to the taxi drivers encouraging those who do not accept card payments to do so, and to advise them that drivers should be flexible and take people to cashpoints if necessary to avoid leaving them stranded.
“We will continue to work with local drivers to develop practical taxi licensing that residents would expect, while balancing drivers’ business needs in a difficult financial time for us all.”
A senior Boston councillor has reportedly been caught on camera verbally attacking a taxi driver due to political differences, it has been claimed.
The Lincolnite reports that a full council meeting heard that dashcam footage allegedly exists of the incident, but the footage hasn’t been shared with the paper.
The councillor supposedly involved wasn’t named at the Boston Borough Council meeting on Monday 6 March.
The licensing committee has been made aware of the reported incident, although a formal complaint hasn’t been made.
However, councillors have called for CCTV to be mandatory in order to protect drivers from similar incidents.
Conservative Councillor Tom Ashton raised the issue to Councillor Frank Picket, who chairs the licensing committee.
“I am as aware, as you are, of dashcam footage allegedly existing of one of our licensed taxi drivers being subjected to verbal abuse by a very senior member of this council on account of historic political differences,” he said.
“Recognising the absolute importance to give protection to our drivers, would you please raise with officers whether audiovisual recording equipment could be made mandatory for all Boston’s licensed vehicles to give them the protection they might need?”
It is understood the alleged event happened while the taxi driver was working in the early morning and that they were referred to by an insulting name.
Councillor Pickett told members there was no current policy requirements for CCTV to be fitted in licensed vehicles.
However, he said: “In respect of licensed drivers, they are all subject to six monthly DBS checks and are expected to operate in accordance with this Authority’s Code of Conduct for licensed drivers.”
He told councillors he would be working with officers to look at Councillor Ashton’s request.
More than 30,000 drivers a month are refusing to pay fines for misusing Birmingham's controversial Clean Air Zone straight away.
Of drivers issued fines during November, a huge 63% had not paid up by the start of January.
BirminghamLive reports that the city council has been overwhelmed by the number of motorists failing to comply with CAZ rules since its launch in 2021.
More than 50,000 drivers are still being penalised every month and collecting all the cash owed has proved impossible.
Birmingham Live revealed in December how the city council had given up on a huge 45,000 CAZ fines since its launch. Council chiefs have admitted recovering all the money it is owed will be impossible.
Analysis of latest CAZ data reveals the difficulties the authority faces in making motorists pay up. Only around 40% of penalties are paid within a month.
Those not paying up straight away will include drivers appealing fines they believe to be unfair and some who just refuse to pay. Some fines may end up being paid at a later date, but many have also been cancelled.
Many motorists have been left fuming after feeling they had been fined unfairly. Another 52,068 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued during November - 1,735 every day - once again showing huge numbers of drivers either ignore the CAZ or don't understand how it works or where it operates.
A city council report said: "Unpaid PCNs comprise of outstanding cases, excluding cancelled or written off cases".
Around 2,500 fines a month issued between November 2021 and April 2022 were written off - roughly one in 20.
More issued in recent months could still yet be written off if the council decides it won't be able to recover the cash.
Separately, more than 10,000 CAZ fines have been successfully appealed after being challenged by drivers who felt they had been unfairly punished.
Despite confusion over how the zone works, council bosses have insisted it is doing its job by cutting emission levels around the city centre. It costs £8 a day for cars which don't meet emissions standards to drive in the CAZ but the idea is the charge will act as a deterrent.
Drivers who fail to pay are hit with fines of £120, cut to £60 if paid within 14 days.
A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: "Since its introduction the CAZ has helped reduce the number of the most polluting vehicles that enter the zone every day. This is helping to improve air quality.
We would encourage anyone driving into the city centre to check whether or not they need to pay the fee, or the alternatives to using their car, by visiting www.brumbreathes.co.uk."
Source: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/more-30000-motorists-month-refusing-26108664
More than 1,600 drivers were fined for not paying Newcastle’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charge in its first month of operation.
ChronicleLive reports that council officials have confirmed that 1,658 motorists were hit with penalty charge notices (PCNs) for bringing a non-compliant vehicle into the CAZ without paying the toll from its launch on January 30 until the end of February.
Some older, high-polluting vehicles that do not meet certain environmental standards are now subject to daily tolls of either £12.50 or £50 to come into Newcastle city centre, under efforts to slash illegal levels of roadside emissions.
The charges apply to older buses, coaches, taxis, and lorries for now – with tolls for vans due to start this summer, but all private cars being exempt.
Newcastle City Council said that there were 1,476 journeys successfully paid for in the first month of the CAZ – fewer than the number of fines issued.
The amount of income generated by the CAZ in its first month was £54,327.50 – made up of £41,975 in toll payments, £7,402.50 in paid PCN fines, and £4,950 from discounted seven-day passes for taxi and private hire drivers.
However, transport bosses have warned that the figures come with a number of crucial caveats, which mean there are likely to be major changes that could see more vehicles charged and heavier fines levied over the coming months.
For example, many vehicles are currently subject to temporary exemptions from the CAZ tolls while drivers await the outcome of applications to receive upgrade grants.
Motorists issued with fines for the non-payment of the CAZ toll are also currently being offered a reprieve – with the chance to only pay the original CAZ charge, rather than the full PCN amount of up to £120 on top.
Civic centre bosses have said that income from the CAZ will be primarily used to cover the running costs of operating the toll zone, with any extra put towards local transport upgrades.
A spokesperson for the Newcastle and Gateshead Clean Air Zone said: “The Clean Air Zone is in place to reduce harmful emissions from some of the most polluting vehicles on our roads and we will be monitoring the impact of the CAZ over time.
"We are still in the early stages of implementation and it is not yet possible to provide robust data that will accurately reflect how the CAZ is performing.
"The information we have at this stage reflects the early operational and enforcement arrangements that are in place temporarily and, when these come to an end, we expect to see an impact on the data.
"We intend to publish further updates on the performance of the CAZ as soon as we are able to do so.”
Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-clean-air-zone-more-26407403
A former paratrooper turned pet taxi driver is in the running for an Animal Star Award for his work in Wakefield and Pontefract.
Tariq Rehman, 75, from Stechford, had his licence removed by Solihull Council in November last year following a complaint from a passenger.
A taxi firm boss has branded the criminal justice system "broken" after new figures revealed almost a third of offenders in the town reoffended within a year.
Dramatic CCTV footage has captured the moment a hooded figure set a taxi alight on a residential driveway.
A Drongan taxi driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female passenger after offering to waive her fare in exchange for sex.
Artur Nowostawski has been jailed for six years and nine months after he attacked a taxi driver earlier this year.
Taxi drivers in the city are facing significant financial losses after a series of electric vehicle charging point failures left them unable to operate.
Police are appealing for help to trace a man who disappeared after getting into a taxi bound for the Otley area of Leeds.
The company’s operator licence includes a condition ordering all drivers to undergo the same training as those from other companies.
Police have stopped a private hire driver who was driving the wrong way on the M1 close to Junction 8 at Hemel Hempstead.
Newcastle City Council is set to introduce strict new measures to tackle illegal and inconsiderate parking near Newcastle International Airport.
West Mercia Police is appealing for information following a rape that took place in Malvern's Priory Park early on Sunday, August 4th.
Glasgow taxi users could be facing a near-10% fare increase and extended night-time charges.
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.
A local councillor has sparked a debate on passenger safety after claiming that using locally licensed taxis is safer than hailing an Uber.
A taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racist abuse after two brothers refused to pay him up front.
Christopher Hilling, 64, admitted to engaging a child in sexual activity at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 8 August.