London Banter - View Single Post

Robin9 · October 23rd 16, 08:18 AM

[quote='D A Stocks[_2_];158826']"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On 2016-10-18 14:38:42 +0000, said:

Hackney carriage drivers have meters to keep them honest of course. One
reason why licensed hire cars in Cambridge have meters.

The habit of refusing to use them seems particularly popular late at night
in MK. And they *all* refuse, so you can't just get in the one behind.
And the Council has no interest in removing their licences for doing so.

If they refuse to use the meter is the passenger able to refuse to pay the
fare?

The de-regulated (or, more properly, re-regulated) taxis in Dublin have to
provide a printed receipt from the the meter. If the driver tells you they
can't print a receipt (and I have had a few that did this) you're perfectly
entitled to tell them you can't pay the fare. BTW, a standard Uber taxi has
to operate in Dublin under exactly the same rules as a licensed taxi, which
is why Uber hasn't really caught on there.

Personally, I think it's about time the London taxi/cab rules were
re-written to provide a level-playing field where
- all drivers operate under a common license
- no distinction between vehicles hailed on the street, picked up at a rank
or pre-booked
- all vehicles metered with printed receipts
- no special vehicles required, other than an incentive to provide a minimum
number of wheelchair adapted vehicles.
- common (and sensible, given the use of sat-nav) level of 'knowledge' and
language skill requirements for drivers.

The above (which AIUI is how the industry works in Dublin) would mean the
Hackney Carriage as we know it would die.

--
DAS

Many Londoners would like that system but it would be
opposed fanatically by the Hackney Cab trade, by owners
of minicab firms and by politicians.