Following a long and vocal campaign by Isle of Man taxi drivers, the Island’s Tynwald parliament appears to have ditched plans to change ply for hire taxi regulations on the island.
The administration planned to introduce an island-wide taxi licensing system which was vehemently opposed by the taxi trade, which feared a negative impact on taxi sales income. The order has now been removed from the Tynwald schedule by Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne.
Taxi Sales Revenue
The current system prohibits drivers from picking up fares outside their own licensing district, with the island being split into four districts. Following a public consultation, it emerged that most residents favoured a switch to an ‘all-island’ system, allowing drivers to pick up fares anywhere on the island.
However, the Manx Taxi Federation immediately warned that this would lead to saturation of the Douglas area and inadequate services for the rest of the island.
Federation chairman Ray Teare said: “The problem that we see is that most areas outside the Douglas area will not have sufficient taxis to serve them because they’ll all be in Douglas.”
“We’ve got drivers out there at the moment who are working on less than the minimum wage. They are working eight to twelve hours a day for two, three, or four pounds an hour some days.
“That’s a serious problem that the legislature has to look at and consider why the taxi industry workers being treated differently than any other worker? Are they saying they are going to deprive us from making a decent standard of living?”
Taxi Earnings Boost
The Department of Infrastructure had insisted that the relaxation of current restrictions would boost taxi drivers’ earnings by reducing the number of empty journeys they had to make.
Minister Phil Gawne commented: “It’s a nonsense in this day and age to have taxis running round the island empty because of outdated restrictions on where they can operate. Not surprisingly, there are those in the taxi trade who want to protect the status quo.”
However, South Douglas MHK Bill Malarkey spoke out against the proposal, warning that the changes would have a serious impact on cabbies based in Douglas.
Last Minute U-turn
In what is being seen as a U-turn by many, the Infrastructure Minister then made a last minute change, removing the Ply for Hire Taxi Service Order from the Tynwald schedule. His reasons have not yet been made clear but the move has been welcomed by the taxi trade.