Post by The Dark Knight on Jul 29, 2024 14:32:16 GMT
Leicester taxi drivers 'losing trade to cabbies who operate in city but are licensed elsewhere'
Leicester taxi drivers have said they are "angry" that operators licensed in other parts of the country are encroaching on their patch and taking trade away from them. In particular, they raised concerns about drivers with Wolverhampton licences, which they claimed were easier to obtain and less expensive to maintain than those provided by Leicester City Council.
Speaking to LeicestershireLive, Harinder Mann, who has been working as a taxi driver in Leicester for 15 years with a Leicester City Council licence, said "all" local Hackney cab drivers were “angry” about the large number of vehicles licensed by Wolverhampton operating on Leicester's streets.
He added: “It's bad. The council here gives out a limited number of licences based on the size of the city, but there's a long waiting list, so people go to Wolverhampton instead. I think they're people living in Leicester who want to drive taxis and go to Wolverhampton council because they'll get a licence."
READ MORE: Golf course could be concreted over for 200 new homes and shops
Taxi driver Mr Dosanja, who did not want to give his full name, said he believed there were more Wolverhampton cabs in Leicester than those licenced by Leicester City Council. He said: "The last government made it legal for them to work across borders, so anyone can get a licence from Wolverhampton and work here.
"Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire also have a lot of taxis they've licensed working here. There are probably more than 400 taxis from other councils regularly working here."
He claimed the rules for Wolverhampton taxis were less strict and cost less than in Leicester, allowing them to charge customers less. "We have to pay £60 every six months for a taxi MOT from Leicester City Council, on top of the cost of any work that needs doing. In Wolverhampton it's only £40 and it's only once a year.”
Mr Dosanja added: “They take our trade because they can charge less while for Hackney drivers like me there's no control over what we can charge – it's set by the city council. It's a big problem and it's undermining the whole system.”
Kulwant Singh, who has been driving black cabs in Leicester for 11 years, said the problem was not specific to Leicester. He said: "Everywhere has taxis from Wolverhampton - it's not just Leicester. [As a result] we have no work here so it's very bad for us,” he added.
It is not just the drivers who have raised concerns. A city resident, who asked not to be named, told LeicestershireLive she had been charged extra after her Wolverhampton-licensed driver appeared to get lost.
She said: “I got an Uber from Hinckley Road to the far end of Granby Street, near the train station, to meet friends. The driver didn't seem to have a clue how to get to Granby Street, driving in and out of back streets and not taking a route anyone who drives regularly in the city would take.
“I even commented that his sat nav seemed to have gone haywire. The journey took ages, and he eventually dropped me off in a dead end near the crown court.
“It wasn't a miles away from where I needed to be so I wasn't too bothered, although I did arrive late. I noticed as I walked away that the car had been registered in Wolverhampton, so thought he'd probably just got lost. Again, I wasn't that fussed.
"But I noticed later that I'd been charged an extra £2.50 for the journey because it had taken 'longer than expected'! I felt like I'd been penalised for his errors, and that was really pretty annoying. Maybe his sat nav had gone haywire, but I'm sure that I wouldn't have had any issues if the driver knew their way around Leicester."
A spokeswoman for the City of Wolverhampton Council told LeicestershireLive the authority did not set the price for MOTs, with drivers expected to have them carried out at "any DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) MOT station, as per the government guidance", at whatever price the garage charged.
She added that the West Midlands authority did not "believe it proportionate to require vehicles below 10 years of age [to undergo] two tests per year". The spokeswoman said: “As stated in government guidance, 'the legal requirement is that private hire vehicles which are at least three years old, and all taxis, must be subject to an MOT test or its equivalent at least once a year'. The guidance also states 'an annual test for licensed vehicles of whatever age (including vehicles that are less than three years old) seems appropriate in most cases, unless local conditions suggest that more frequent tests are necessary'.
“City of Wolverhampton Council does not believe it proportionate to require vehicles below 10 years of age require two tests per year, as this can cause a barrier of entry to the local trade."
LeicestershireLive asked Leicester City Council why so many drivers were working in the city who were not licensed here, and what the authority was doing to ensure people were kept safe and that drivers met local standards.
A council spokeswoman said “regulatory frameworks” currently allowed “cross-border hiring” of drivers. She added: “This practice is legal under the Deregulation Act 2015, which allows private hire drivers to undertake bookings anywhere in the country, provided the booking is made through an operator licensed by the same council that licensed the vehicle and driver.
"The prevalence of outside-of-Leicester licensed vehicles presents some challenges, including less direct control over the licensing standards and enforcement of vehicles licensed by other authorities, which may have different standards.
“Leicester sets specific vehicle and driver standards that go beyond the legislative minimum, aimed at ensuring high quality and safety for passengers.” However, there are still steps the council can, and does, take to ensure local passengers are safe when using vehicles licensed elsewhere, the spokeswoman said. “Despite the challenges, Leicester City Council has robust mechanisms in place to ensure all taxis, including those licensed by other authorities, meet acceptable standards by conducting regular and thorough inspections in partnership with agencies such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the police,” she said. “This includes spot checks and scheduled inspections to verify the roadworthiness and compliance of vehicles.
“Any concerns identified during inspections of Wolverhampton or any other out-of-town-licensed vehicles are reported back to the relevant licence issuing authority. Additionally, immediate action is taken by the DVSA and police when necessary to address serious issues.
“These measures ensure that all operating taxis, regardless of their licensing authority, adhere to safety and quality standards to protect public safety in Leicester. While the use of Wolverhampton licences in Leicester is a consequence of current national legislation, Leicester City Council remains vigilant.
“Through cooperative enforcement and rigorous inspection protocols, we strive to maintain high standards for all private hire vehicles operating in our area, safeguarding the interests of both the public and local drivers.”
uk.news.yahoo.com/leicester-taxi-drivers-losing-trade-203904252.html
Leicester taxi drivers have said they are "angry" that operators licensed in other parts of the country are encroaching on their patch and taking trade away from them. In particular, they raised concerns about drivers with Wolverhampton licences, which they claimed were easier to obtain and less expensive to maintain than those provided by Leicester City Council.
Speaking to LeicestershireLive, Harinder Mann, who has been working as a taxi driver in Leicester for 15 years with a Leicester City Council licence, said "all" local Hackney cab drivers were “angry” about the large number of vehicles licensed by Wolverhampton operating on Leicester's streets.
He added: “It's bad. The council here gives out a limited number of licences based on the size of the city, but there's a long waiting list, so people go to Wolverhampton instead. I think they're people living in Leicester who want to drive taxis and go to Wolverhampton council because they'll get a licence."
READ MORE: Golf course could be concreted over for 200 new homes and shops
Taxi driver Mr Dosanja, who did not want to give his full name, said he believed there were more Wolverhampton cabs in Leicester than those licenced by Leicester City Council. He said: "The last government made it legal for them to work across borders, so anyone can get a licence from Wolverhampton and work here.
"Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire also have a lot of taxis they've licensed working here. There are probably more than 400 taxis from other councils regularly working here."
He claimed the rules for Wolverhampton taxis were less strict and cost less than in Leicester, allowing them to charge customers less. "We have to pay £60 every six months for a taxi MOT from Leicester City Council, on top of the cost of any work that needs doing. In Wolverhampton it's only £40 and it's only once a year.”
Mr Dosanja added: “They take our trade because they can charge less while for Hackney drivers like me there's no control over what we can charge – it's set by the city council. It's a big problem and it's undermining the whole system.”
Kulwant Singh, who has been driving black cabs in Leicester for 11 years, said the problem was not specific to Leicester. He said: "Everywhere has taxis from Wolverhampton - it's not just Leicester. [As a result] we have no work here so it's very bad for us,” he added.
It is not just the drivers who have raised concerns. A city resident, who asked not to be named, told LeicestershireLive she had been charged extra after her Wolverhampton-licensed driver appeared to get lost.
She said: “I got an Uber from Hinckley Road to the far end of Granby Street, near the train station, to meet friends. The driver didn't seem to have a clue how to get to Granby Street, driving in and out of back streets and not taking a route anyone who drives regularly in the city would take.
“I even commented that his sat nav seemed to have gone haywire. The journey took ages, and he eventually dropped me off in a dead end near the crown court.
“It wasn't a miles away from where I needed to be so I wasn't too bothered, although I did arrive late. I noticed as I walked away that the car had been registered in Wolverhampton, so thought he'd probably just got lost. Again, I wasn't that fussed.
"But I noticed later that I'd been charged an extra £2.50 for the journey because it had taken 'longer than expected'! I felt like I'd been penalised for his errors, and that was really pretty annoying. Maybe his sat nav had gone haywire, but I'm sure that I wouldn't have had any issues if the driver knew their way around Leicester."
A spokeswoman for the City of Wolverhampton Council told LeicestershireLive the authority did not set the price for MOTs, with drivers expected to have them carried out at "any DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) MOT station, as per the government guidance", at whatever price the garage charged.
She added that the West Midlands authority did not "believe it proportionate to require vehicles below 10 years of age [to undergo] two tests per year". The spokeswoman said: “As stated in government guidance, 'the legal requirement is that private hire vehicles which are at least three years old, and all taxis, must be subject to an MOT test or its equivalent at least once a year'. The guidance also states 'an annual test for licensed vehicles of whatever age (including vehicles that are less than three years old) seems appropriate in most cases, unless local conditions suggest that more frequent tests are necessary'.
“City of Wolverhampton Council does not believe it proportionate to require vehicles below 10 years of age require two tests per year, as this can cause a barrier of entry to the local trade."
LeicestershireLive asked Leicester City Council why so many drivers were working in the city who were not licensed here, and what the authority was doing to ensure people were kept safe and that drivers met local standards.
A council spokeswoman said “regulatory frameworks” currently allowed “cross-border hiring” of drivers. She added: “This practice is legal under the Deregulation Act 2015, which allows private hire drivers to undertake bookings anywhere in the country, provided the booking is made through an operator licensed by the same council that licensed the vehicle and driver.
"The prevalence of outside-of-Leicester licensed vehicles presents some challenges, including less direct control over the licensing standards and enforcement of vehicles licensed by other authorities, which may have different standards.
“Leicester sets specific vehicle and driver standards that go beyond the legislative minimum, aimed at ensuring high quality and safety for passengers.” However, there are still steps the council can, and does, take to ensure local passengers are safe when using vehicles licensed elsewhere, the spokeswoman said. “Despite the challenges, Leicester City Council has robust mechanisms in place to ensure all taxis, including those licensed by other authorities, meet acceptable standards by conducting regular and thorough inspections in partnership with agencies such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the police,” she said. “This includes spot checks and scheduled inspections to verify the roadworthiness and compliance of vehicles.
“Any concerns identified during inspections of Wolverhampton or any other out-of-town-licensed vehicles are reported back to the relevant licence issuing authority. Additionally, immediate action is taken by the DVSA and police when necessary to address serious issues.
“These measures ensure that all operating taxis, regardless of their licensing authority, adhere to safety and quality standards to protect public safety in Leicester. While the use of Wolverhampton licences in Leicester is a consequence of current national legislation, Leicester City Council remains vigilant.
“Through cooperative enforcement and rigorous inspection protocols, we strive to maintain high standards for all private hire vehicles operating in our area, safeguarding the interests of both the public and local drivers.”
uk.news.yahoo.com/leicester-taxi-drivers-losing-trade-203904252.html