A request has been made by taxi drivers in the city for a fare increase to deal with fuel and insurance cost increases.
The Nottingham Licensed Taxi Owners Drivers Association and Nottingham City Hackney Taxi Organisation is proposing an increase to the Table of Fares currently in use.
In a delegated decision Nottingham City Council has published details of the proposals.
Taxi fare prices ( Hackney carriages ) and any objections to them must comply with section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
For journeys by Hackney Carriage that take place within the Nottingham city boundary, the Council can fix the rates or fares within the district for time and distance, and all other charges in connection with the hire or with the arrangements for the hire.
Taxi drivers can charge less than the Table of Fares but are not allowed to charge more, to do so is a criminal offence.
The request from the taxi driver organisations is to increase the daytime and night-time rates of tariff, extension of the time for the fare and a half tariff on Christmas Eve to 12 noon, an increase in the charge for waiting and for an addition £1 charge per journey on Bank Holidays.
They also want to make it an offence for people to leave a taxi without paying.
Since the last fare increase in 2018, Hackney Carrige operators say that insurance costs have increased to between £1,500 and £2,500 per year depending on the type of vehicle insured, compared with £1,200 to £1,800 3 years ago – and that diesel prices have increased by 24% since the last fare increase, from 135.1p to 177.5p per litre.
Also, due to the recent implementation of the Councils Age & Emissions Policy, investment in new vehicles is particularly high and ranges between £35,000 and £72,000.
The average daytime proposed increase is 15.36% and the average night-time proposed increase is 12.3%.
The proposed increase is seen as proportionate and necessary balancing the interests of paying taxi passengers and hackney carriage proprietors.
The council has to advertise the proposals to the public to allow any objections to be dealt with before any changes come into force.
