Next to black, silver is the next most popular colour as far as new taxis for sale in the UK are concerned. But is that new silver taxi really silver?
Taxi licensing authorities in Manchester have issued an apology to a city cabbie who was refused a license renewal for his new silver cab. Asif Khan was originally told that his new cab failed to meet the city’s strict colour coding regulations, since it wasn’t the right shade of sliver.
Following local media coverage of the story, the council has now admitted an error and Mr Kahn has been able to return to work.
Wrong Shade of Silver
Mr Khan, a private hire taxi driver for seven years, had previously driven a silver Volkswagen Passat. He traded in that vehicle for a new silver Honda Accord. However, when he went to the council to renew his badge for his new taxi, his request was refused. He was told the colour of his new vehicle did not meet the council colour coding regulations as his vehicle was not silver but grey.
Mr Khan told the Manchester Evening News – which campaigned on his behalf: “How can a car be the wrong shade of silver? I have been to the council twice and they say it’s grey.
“The only way I can get it passed is by buying a new car or re-spraying the one I’ve just bought. But it’s practically the same colour as my old car. And it says silver in the log book and on the insurance documents.
“I can’t believe it. I have a family and I’m out of work now until they change their mind.”
Safety Measure
When the story came to light, a statement was issued by Manchester City Council regarding the case:
“The council has had a colour policy for private-hire taxis for several years to improve passenger safety by making it easier for members of the public to recognise properly licensed cars.
“Manchester’s licensed private-hire vehicles can be either silver or white, but difficulties have arisen because the DVLA’s definition of silver includes shades ranging from grey to blue.
“A clearer definition of silver was introduced in 2008 to avoid confusion and make it easier for taxi operators when choosing between new taxis for sale.
“We have worked with the licensed trade to make sure private-hire operators and drivers understand the requirements and, over the last 18 months, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of vehicles that fail to meet the standard.
“However, some people do make mistakes and in cases like this we provide advice and refund the application fee.”
Mistake
Shortly after this, however, Mr Khan was invited to a meeting at Manchester Town Hall. At the meeting, licensing chiefs issued a formal apology to Mr Khan and reinstated his license. They admitted that in this case a mistake had been made and that the colour of Mr Khan’s new vehicle was acceptable.
Mr Khan spoke after the meeting, saying:
“I’m delighted that I’m back on the road because I have a family to support and need to be working.
“It was ridiculous all along and I’m glad they have held their hands up and said sorry. They said they had passed cars like mine before and admitted they had been inconsistent in the process.”
A council spokesman also stated:
“We have examined Mr Khan’s vehicle and although it doesn’t match the accepted colour, we are aware that another car of the same make and colour was previously licensed. We have therefore agreed to license Mr Khan’s vehicle to ensure consistency and we are looking to put a system in place to make sure this situation does not arise again.
“Our private hire taxi colour policy is in place to improve customer safety by making sure they can easily recognise properly licensed cars and we have worked closely with drivers and operators to make sure they understand the requirements.”