Police chiefs have raised their concerns following a new proposal made by Dundee City Council to introduce up-front taxi fares.
The thinking behind the new rule is that allowing cabbies to be paid in advance would help cut down the number of runaway cab customers – an issue that came to light after an increase in the number of punters failing to pay their taxi fare after getting a taxi direct to their destination.
Now, there are worries that this new proposal could in fact have a negative effect and encourage, according to police, “additional confrontation”.
Dundee City Council received a letter from Chief Superintendent Gavin Robertson to make them aware that the number of instances reported where a customer hasn’t paid for their journeys dropped from 62 in 2010 to 45 in 2011.
Superindendent Robertson also commented: ”I would suggest that advance payment may create additional confrontation between taxi drivers and customers — however, I have no research available to support this stance.”
Cabbies Stay United
Despite the concerns raised, the proposal is still being supported by the majority of Dundee cabbies as they attempt to safeguard taxi earnings at a time when fuel costs are higher than ever.
UNITE Union secretary, Chris Elder said that he believes most people who have used taxis would agree that this is the right route to go down in order to tackle these issues.
Dundee City Council will meet later this month to discuss the proposal.