The Taxi fare scales can be found at the following link:
These are the Scales fixed in 2021. On 24 October 2022, the Council's Licensing Committee concluded the Taxi fare scales review process and set new scales, which were due to start on Monday 21 November 2022, but because an operator has appealed to the Traffic Commissioner the 'new' Scales are suspended. This is a legal rule and there is nothing the Council can do about it.
Information for the public
Taxis do not have a fare card. Instead, Taxis should have a "public notice" placed in the vehicle so that it can be easily read by passengers. The public notice includes a link to this webpage.
If you have any questions or comments about a Taxi, please email: licensing@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Information for the Taxi Trade
Update - "What do I need to do BEFORE Monday 21 November 2022?"
The email or letter we sent all operators telling them about the 'new' Scales explained that we would answer this question by putting an update on our website.
You don't need to do anything just now. You can't charge the 'new' Scales, so you shouldn't get your meter recalibrated.
This is because another operator has appealed. This means that the 'new' Scales are postponed until the Traffic Commissioner in Edinburgh makes a decision on the appeal. For the moment the 'old' Scales still apply.
We told the Trade of the 'new' fare Scales this way to save operators time and money. If we had simply gone ahead and told the Trade of the 'new' Scales before we knew if any operator had appealed, the other operators who had not appealed could have wasted time and money on getting their meters recalibrated to charge 'new' Scales.
Due to the current economic crisis the Trade were divided between:
- those who wanted a large increase
- those who wanted an inflation-linked increase
- those who did not want an increase at all
If any of them had appealed, this would cause a problem for those who did not appeal. An appeal automatically postpones the 'new' Scales. Since these are generally higher than the 'old' Scales, those operators would either:
- have to recalibrate again to restore the 'old' Scales, or
- they'd have to set fixed fares
to avoid complaints of over-charging. We tried to avoid this.
Whether or not you have to recalibrate meters, and when, will depend on the Traffic Commissioner's decision on the appeal.