Council bosses have had a change of heart after pulling out on a rule change that taxi drivers say could have put them out of business.
Renfrewshire Council had agreed to impose new rules on private hire cabbies that would mean they had to change their cab every five years. The change was put in place to guarantee that taxis were kept up to standard.
Five Year Taxi Age Limit
The original plans would have seen vehicles that were five years old unable to operate as working taxis. However, following 23 objection letters, Renfrewshire Council bosses met again to discuss the cabbies’ concerns over the change.
A council spokesman commented: “The Regulatory Functions Board considered all the responses received to the consultation and took into account the views expressed by the taxi industry.
“At a subsequent meeting of the board, it was agreed that all private hire cabs should be allowed to remain in service for seven years from the date of first registration, as opposed to five years.
“The age limit for all wheelchair accessible taxis remains at eight years from the date of first registration.
“All vehicles will be subject to inspection every six months after they become five years old from the date of registration.”
John McIntyre, a cabbie in Renfrewshire for 23 years, has expressed his relief at the plans being withdrawn.
He said “If these plans had gone through, it would have put a lot of us drivers out of business.
“I had to buy a brand new car and interest rates on taxi finance are only going up. Most guys take out a loan over a five-year period and the Council’s plan would have meant that as soon as your car was paid off you would need to buy a new one.
“At least we’ll now have a couple of years to save up some money.”