Private Hire and the Taxi Industry
You will recall that for some considerable time I have been advising you that prices within the Private Hire industry will have to rise due to the shortage of PH drivers now that they have been legitimatised. So much so, in fact, that if an applicant applies for a Private hire licence, he/she is immediately issued with a temporary three-month permit which allows them to operate a Private Hire vehicle whilst their application is being processed. Should there later be a problem with their Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) check, then their temporary permit will be revoked.
When you think about this scenario, it is surely ludicrous that you might have the biggest miscreant there is, but that he/she can operate a vehicle until their past record catches up with them and the PCO are advised and Penton Street revokes the temporary PH Licence. By then, of course, the damage may well have been done and many misdemeanours possibly committed. If the public are to be protected – and let’s face it, wasn’t that the whole purpose behind licensing the Private Hire industry - then the new applicant should be made to wait whilst all the records at the CRB are checked. If this takes up to three months, then so be it, after all it would still be nothing like the four years it takes on average for a prospective Taxi driver to complete the Knowledge of London.
I have always thought that the above was a little weird and an extremely unusual commitment from the PCO whose sole purpose in life is to protect the public from Private Hire drivers and of course, us!
To my eyes, it appears that the PCO have been put under immense pressure to invoke the above scenario because knowing the Principals at the PCO the way in which I do, then I cannot believe they would ever agree to a relaxing of standards that could be detrimental to the public - unless of course they were instructed to do so from a higher level. A higher level that may possibly - sorry, almost certainly - have come under pressure from the PH lobby.
I have just come into possession of the following figures released by the PCO that makes the above absolutely crystal clear and, I believe, to be a damning indictment on the authorities that have the power to prescribe the rules to which the PCO must abide.
As most of you were aware, before the licensing of Private Hire drivers commenced, it was assumed that there were between 60,000 and 80,000 minicab drivers in circulation. After the 2,200 operators or premises were licensed, 43,000 application forms were sent to would-be PH drivers who I can only assume were on the books of the newly licensed premises. Of the 43,000 application forms sent out, 5,823 drivers have been licensed whilst 14,387 are in the process of
being licensed. That makes a total
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of 20,210 Private Hire drivers out
of an estimated total of between
60 - 80,000 prior to the commencement of the licensing process. Initially our industry was estimated to be a third to a quarter of the size of the minicab industry, but in fact we are at least 20% larger as there are over 24,000 licensed taxi drivers in London. So now we all understand about the issue of temporary permits and why there
is a drastic shortage of Private Hire drivers, which in turn will ensure that the prices charged by the PH companies will increase as they all clamour to employ the services of the newly legitimate PH drivers. The worrying part is that the PCO - undoubtedly under instruction - have lowered standards when it suited the authorities to do so. Could the same lowering of standards be applied to our industry when it suits them…?
Upturn in Work.
For those who are unaware, our trading year is from 1 September until the end of August. In the current trading year, we were running on a par with last year until the end of February.
However, during the following quarter and up until the end of May 2004, we experienced an upturn in excess of 26% over the corresponding period for the previous year. There were many reasons for this including the licensing of Private Hire and an increase in usage from our ‘juggernaut’ accounts, together with the fact that we have been reasonably successful in attracting new business. So I am going to stick my neck out (what’s new) as I did in May 2001 when I predicted a downturn in work, but this time with the tremendous growth that we have seen during that past quarter, I believe that we are on the edge of a large upturn in our fortunes and I am extremely optimistic regarding the future…
RTL Change of Status… and Carpetbaggers!
Most of you would have read in the trade press that RTL have sold a 26% stake in their company to Brian McBride who operates a cab company amongst other things, in Cleveland Ohio. I know Brian quite well and of course I wish him and the members of Mountview every success in their new venture. I have read a great deal in the trade press regarding the above topic and I must say that I am not surprised that many people from our industry have endeavoured to give their opinion. What is perhaps quite extraordinary is that most of them are not even members of the radio circuit in question!
So far as I am concerned, the BoM of Mountview held a democratic vote and almost 80%
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of their members voted in favour of the change, that is their
business and all the ‘wannabe’s’
should just accept their democratic decision and get on with their lives.
At the time of writing and in connection with the result of their demutualisation vote, we are considering writing to all our members to consider a rule change. As Mountview have paid a dividend to their members in addition to giving them 1000 shares, some might believe that at a later date we could follow suit.
Then, as you might expect, that would attract carpetbaggers just as the Building Societies did several years ago.
In order to counteract the above, we might need a rule change that would require all new members fitted after a given date to sign a waiver to the effect that they would forfeit any dividends should Dial-a-Cab have a change in status.
Before anyone gets up and says: “I told you so,” let me emphasise that there is absolutely nothing on the horizon regarding our change of status. Our members will be given the option of changing a rule (regarding dividends), if they agree with the Rule Change, they will vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if they disagree. But at least the democratic decision will prevail should the BoM choose to go along this particular route.
Technology for Both Sides
DaC have long been known as innovators when it comes to introducing new technology. I won’t go into those innovations now as you will have read many times in Call Sign about our amazing Internet facilities for clients and other ‘firsts’ for the radio taxi industry. When we develop new technology, it isn’t purely for the client as we are always looking to see how we can make the driver’s life that bit easier. In that respect we developed our state-of-the-art terminals that are still the market leaders after all these years. Ask anyone in computing how long new developments stay on top before something new comes along to replace them? The usual answer is that it happens within a year. That our terminals are still so far ahead of anything else on the market shows the advanced thinking at DaC.
Our map facilities are the envy of all non-DaC drivers. We also have the fare automatically entered when you clear it to save the possibility of errors when typing in the final amount. The only time that total should be touched is if it comes to less than the minimum, is a TaxiCard trip where the passenger’s contribution has to be deducted or a pre-booked theatre or station ride. Otherwise it must not be altered unless instructed to do so by the Call Centre. Our technology shows us what the fare comes to and attempting to alter the amount for any other reason will lead to a complaint being issued and the probability of severe disciplinary action taken.
Brian Rice
Chairman,
Dial-a-Cab |
