LONDON

Concerns have been raised by taxi drivers in London over the availability to rent or buy second hand cabs as many drivers and fleet owners take advantage of Transport for London's taxi decommissioning scheme.

The decommisioning or delicensing scheme allows owners to take advantage of a funding scheme which offers a top payment of £10,000 to the first 1,250 applicants, with tiered payment levels available to subsequent applicants on a first come, first served basis all the way down to £1,000, to owners of diesel taxis which are less than 15 years old.

Once a taxi vehicle licence has been surrendered and the vehicle delicensed it cannot be licensed in London again, however the scheme has now created a problem as there are a dearth of second hand vehicles to buy and fleet owners are now affected as they cannot replenish older stock with newer second hand vehicles, thus pushing up rental prices, or in some cases putting drivers temporarily out of work.

Add to the mix that there is no second hand market for the LEVC taxi as yet, and the Nissan Dynamo has yet to launch, London's cabbies have a problem.

With up to 5,100 vehicles potentially leaving service in London it is expected that many part-time or ad-hoc drivers will leave the industry completely.

According to a number of sources within the industry there is usually an approximate differential of 12% between driver and vehicle numbers, however at the moment there are approximately 17% more drivers than vehicles.

A number of garages and fleet owners have already had to let "occasional" drivers go, and have a waiting list for permanent drivers to join their fleets. Some garages are also expressing concerns that they have no spare or "back-up" cabs available should an existing driver break down.

However until the second hand taxi market becomes buoyant again, some drivers could be left out of work as stock dwindles even further as well as rent for older existing fleet stock rising.

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 BRIGHTON

The taxi app Ola was today (June 4) given permission to operate in Brighton and Hove.

The company has been granted a one-year operator’s licence by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Ola’s operations director Karl Lutzow told a council licensing panel that the company would only use local drivers.

All taxi drivers licensed in Brighton and Hove must stick to the council’s rules – known as the Blue Book.

He promised to restrict the use of out-of-town drivers after the council’s Licensing Committee chair Councillor Jackie O’Quinn raied concerns.

He said that out-of-town drivers would be restricted to picking up two fares within 24 hours before going back to their own area.

Ola wanted a five-year licence but was granted one for one year only. When the company starts operating, the licence’s one-year term will also start.

The council said that the shorter term was in “order to monitor their operation and the working of the memorandum of understanding”.

Drivers would also be restricted from working for more than ten hours and have an enforced four to six-hour break between shifts.

CCTV must be installed in all vehicles, whether operating as private hire vehicles or as taxis. And all drivers would be self employed.

The app has a panic button for passengers and drivers.

https://bit.ly/2KqC7k4
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 LUTON AIRPORT

A man who ran an illegal taxi business for people at London Luton Airport has been fined and banned from driving.

Yasir Masood, 39, of Spencer Road, Luton, pleaded guilty at Luton Magistrates’ Court last week to touting for hire by a private hire vehicle in February.

He was disqualified from driving for 30 days, fined £40 and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Sergeant James Hart, from the force’s community policing team at the airport, said: “We know that illegal touts have been causing a number of issues at the airport.

“This kind of behaviour can be irritating for people, and it is also unfair on legitimate taxi drivers who have gone through the proper processes of getting a licence.

“Touting will not be tolerated. Those doing so will be interviewed and prosecuted to the full extent.”

If you have any information about illegal taxi touting at London Luton Airport, you can report it by calling 101
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