Wokingham taxi drivers anger over fees increase
Wokingham Borough Council increases licence fee despite drivers struggling for work in pandemic
Taxi drivers struggling to make a living during the Covid-19 pandemic have hit out at the council’s decision to hike their fees.
Wokingham Borough Council has decided to increase the fee for hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licences from £248 to £290 in 2020/21.
Drivers claim it is unfair to hike their fees by around 17 per cent, when their income has plummeted during the pandemic.
Responses
Responding to a consultation, Mohsen Taghinejad wrote: “For the past 10 month all cab drivers’ income has been reduced by 90 per cent, if not more.
“Some drivers left the business and remaining drivers are surviving only by help from family or friends.
“I personally use my credit cards to pay for most of my expenses.
“To be honest, when I received the email I was expecting a letter saying the council will reduce all the charges by half or remove all the charges for 2021.
“Instead, you have increased all prices. It’s not fair and not justified.”
Mohamed Bashir wrote: “It’s nice to know that the fees have gone up whilst at the same time our incomes have dropped by at least 80 per cent in my case and 90 per cent this past 11 months.
“It would have been nice to receive a notification that you have reduced fees by at least 10 per cent and not increased them.
“I suppose this email will not make an ounce of difference as you set the rules and they seem to be set in stone.”
A letter written on behalf of several drivers asked why fees are being hiked when many of them are “struggling to make ends meet”.
It adds: “Covid-19 virus has literally destroyed the taxi trade in Wokingham, where roads are quiet, trains are empty, and the town centre looks like a cemetery.”
What the council said
Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors called for the fees to be frozen at £248, during a meeting of the council’s Licensing Committee on March 9.
They said some self-employed drivers have given up, while others are relying on foodbanks because they are struggling to make a living and have found it difficult to access support grants.
Council figures show 18 hackney carriage drivers and 23 private hire drivers in Wokingham have quit during the pandemic.
But the Conservatives refused, claiming the hiked fees will be used to cover the council’s administrative costs and taxi drivers have been offered grants and other support.
Cllr Chris Bowering said: “Other businesses have to pay licensing fees as well and we have not considered subsidising them.
“Their licences have gone up as well.
“I don’t know if they have suffered as much as the taxi drivers, possibly not, but that is something that ought to be taken into account.
“Their licences are set to cover costs.”
The Licensing Committee agreed to review the fees in June after more work is done to assess the impact of the pandemic on taxi drivers and the support they have been offered.