Are city’s taxi drivers treated unfairly?

Eamonn O’Donnell of North West Taxi Proprietors (NWTP) said greater regulation was needed and urged the DoE to pursue supplementary legislation to the recently passed Taxis Act 2008 in order to ensure ‘illegal taxis’ were clamped down on - if that was necessary.

Mr O’Donnell said there was a lack of confidence in the taxi industry in relation to the way regulatory change had been rolled out.

“The Department should deal with the issues, put in place the proper resources and put enough people on it to move it forward,” Mr O’Donnell told a recent evidence session on the implementation of the Taxis Act 2008.

“NWTP agrees in principle with operator licensing, but we have concerns around the detail. All taxi operations should be licensed. Operator licensing is a central plank in the fight against the unregulated sector,” he told members of the committee.

The Londonderry taximan said customers wanted greater regulation and that a loop-hole in current legislation had allowed industry standards to fall. He said this had led to a lack of accountability amongst taxi operators.

“The operator licensing measure will introduce accountability and responsibility. It will tackle the problem of unfair competition. NWTP has been told that the legislation is weak and limits enforcement,” he said.

“The Department has been slow to inform the Committee of the weaknesses, which can be addressed in a number of ways. First, you can write further legislation and plug the gaps. That is very doable.

“Secondly, you can create new regulation and use licensing to plug the gaps using suspension and revocation,” said Mr O’Donnell.

He argued the Department needed to have the will to deliver change.

“It is shocking that the Department has left gaps after so much preparation. That concerns us in the taxi industry, particularly as it asked for over £5,000 from every operation over 25 cars. We need to have confidence that operator licensing will deliver the anticipated results. It is needed for the improvement of the taxi industry,” he said.

As well as stressing the need for movement by the DoE the North West taxi representative also said current legislation “discriminated” against Londonderry drivers in favour of drivers and firms in Belfast.

He pointed out that under current law Belfast firms could seek fares in Londonderry and other parts of Northern Ireland but Londonderry firms were barred from Belfast.

“There is inequality because it states on the licence of a taxi driver who is working outside Belfast - I am taking about restricted public hire - that they cannot work in a restricted area of Belfast, but a Belfast public hire driver can work in any of our areas,” he explained.

“A blatant discrimination is being printed on the licence. Belfast public hire and public hire restricted licences are the same except for one additional clause that is added to the restricted one, which is that it is subject to the condition that the vehicle shall not be used to stand or apply for hire on any street, road or public place in the city of Belfast. Basically, that means that, as much as I do not wish to work in the city of Belfast, I am not allowed to under that licence,” added Mr O’Donnell.

During the evidence session Mr O’Donnell said a single-tier licensing system and single licence plate system was the way forward.

Unsurprisingly his views were met with opposition from the Belfast taxi fraternity with Robert McAllister of Public Hire Belfast saying Londonderry taxi drivers were coming to Belfast at the weekends despite not knowing their way around and arguing that they should be barred from picking up in the city under a two tier system.

Said Mr McAllister: “There should be only two taxi licence plates; one should be the yellow one for public hire in Belfast and the other should be for private hire. Eamonn spoke about Derry.

“A lot of taxis from outside Belfast come down into Belfast at the weekends. I know that I am moving the goalposts, but this has to be heard because this is the final curtain on the 2008 Act.

“What knowledge do drivers coming from Derry/Londonderry have when they come to Belfast city centre to take people home? That is another point. There should be only two plates,” said the Belfast taxi operator.

Meanwhile Mr O’Donnell asked if those responsible for enforcing taxi laws had enough power and enough resources.

“North West Taxi Proprietors believes that enforcement must face two major issues. First, has the enforcement team the powers to deal adequately with the unregulated sector within the 2008 Act? If not, why not? It has had the opportunity to input into the Act. We need the team to have sufficient powers.

“Secondly, what resources does the team need, and do they know what those are? Where is the action plan that details the workload? Is it enough to instil confidence throughout the taxi industry?” he asked.

His colleague Mr Noel Maguire of Glenone Taxis, Maghera, said part of the problem fell under the remit of the Department of Justice (DoJ).

“If you look at the DOE website, the maximum fine for someone who is operating without a taxi licence, without PSV and without insurance, is £8,500. If an illegal driver is caught in the street tonight, the maximum fine that they would get is about £600, which they would get back in one night.

“Although I have concerns and issues with enforcement, there are also other issues to be looked at. For example, if you are caught on the street tomorrow with no tax on your car, it will be taken and can be crushed. However, the illegal operator will be let away with a slap on the wrist; he will get his car back and will go back to operating,” warned Mr Maguire.