Fears Over New Taxi Legislation
There's concern the changes could lead to a rise in the number of bogus taxis operating in our region.
It's feared new taxi legislation could lead to a rise in the number of bogus cabs operating in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
From next week changes come into force which mean private hire services can sub contract bookings to other companies outside the county.
It means the firm you booked with might not be the one sent to collect you.
Tina Houltby from East Riding of Yorkshire Council is concerned it could mean people are more at risk of getting into unlicensed taxis.
She told Viking:
"People will take the opportunity that knowing the act has changed they may turn up with a plate or a sticker and it's not easily recognisable as being a licenced vehicle. It could be that customers will get in and what we would say to people is don't give them your name, don't tell them where you are going as they should be able to give that information to you.
"I think the opportunity is there. So if you book a taxi in the East Riding and you're expecting someone to turn up and a completely different vehicle comes and collects you, so we are just asking residents to be very careful.
"We work on the ranks anyway on an evening and we will be doing additional checks to look out for unlicenced taxi drivers. We check for vehicles that might be hanging around near the ranks as we need to be alert to that and we check for their badges and that they are the driver that should be driving that vehicle.
"If you do get a vehicle that turns up that you're not familiar with you need to look at it and make sure it has got a plate on the back, that the driver wears a badge and has got photographic ID that says it is properly licensed.
"It is confusing for people and especially at 2 or 3am I don't think a lot of people would carry out the sort of checks that you would early in the evening so we just encourage people to take that extra care to make sure the vehicle is licensed. There are bogus taxis out there and we need to make sure that none of our customers get into them."
Councillor Shaun Horton, portfolio holder for community involvement and local partnerships at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:
“We want to make people aware of these important changes as I’m sure people who book with a particular firm do not expect to be picked up by another company they may not know or trust.
“Licensed drivers in the East Riding are subject to rigorous checks to ensure they are safe and suitable to transport people home.
“If you book with an East Riding operator, you have the right to ask for that company to pick you up, which should be requested at the time of booking.”