Source: This is Lancashire
A SECOND East Lancashire borough is in the grip of plummeting taxi fares after rival operators slashed prices. Firms in the Ribble Valley are running private hire taxis for a minimum fare of just £1, from a previous low of £3. Unlike hackney cabs, the council has no powers to set the minimum fare of private hire vehicles, meaning that prices are completely subject to competition. Now two firms in Clitheroe are determined to out do each other, with Budget Cabs and Ray’s Cars continuing to lower prices. Alex Lee, operator of Ribble Valley-based Alex’s Private Hire, said it was ‘hardly worth bothering’ for such prices. He said: “It is not worth starting the car for £1. “It’s just not feasible once you have paid for fuel, insurance and tax. “Prices have been slashed dramatically and a lot of other local firms just aren’t interested in competing with that. “I can’t see how they can make a profit. “We have only been here since February but the price wars have made no difference to us.” A driver from another rival firm which has not cut its prices, who did not want to be named, said most companies were holding their prices. “A lot of the private hire companies have their regular and loyal customers,” he said. “We have not really been affected by it and we are sticking to our guns.” It can cost around £10,000 a year to run a taxi and drivers have to pay the operators a share of each fare. No one was available to comment from Budget Cabs or Ray’s Cars. Last week it was revealed that the minimum fare from some Hyndburn firms had dropped to £1.50 amid a price war. Ribble Valley councillor Ruth Hargreaves said: “I have heard about the cheaper fares but I don’t think the drivers are very happy about it. “The drivers and firms are offering journeys around Clitheroe for £1 but I think they are doing it more because they feel they have to.”
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I have read this post with a great deal of interest, because the problem is not that the Council cannot control the fare structure of the Private Hire Operations.
These are the facts according to the Act of Parliament, not fiction as some people would have it believed, once your Council has adopted Section 45 of the 1976 Act, then Section 46 which is the “Cornerstone of Private Hire Legislation” is applicable to all Council`s in England and Wales.
Section 46(c) states Employ of the Driver and no where does it state Self-Employment or Sub-Contracting.
Section 46(d) states no person shall operate a Section 48 Vehicle without having a Section 55 Operator Licence, Section 46(e) states you need all three to be able to trade within your Local Council Area issued by your Local Council applicable to your situation.
Now here is the interesting bit, in 1968 Ready Mixed Concrete challenged the Minister of Pension and National Insurance in the Court of Law.
Ready Mixed Concrete was a trading company who Manufactured Concrete, Sold the Concrete through another arm of the company, and finally they wanted to deliver the product through “Owner-Drivers” and this Court Case was the ground breaking case for “Owner-Driver Rules” because as long as they could follow a set of laid down rules by the Court Case and they were allowed to provide the service as “Ready Mixed Concrete”, but they must purchase the Vehicle, and then with the use of a “Hire-Purchase agreement” sign up the Owner-Driver to a “Hire-Purchase Agreement” for the vehicle to be used to deliver the service to the Customer, who has already paid the Ready Mixed Concrete “Booking Facility for the Concrete” for the product to be delivered by the Self-Employed or Sub-Contractor “Owner Driver”.
Now here is the problem with the way this Court Ruling is being broken in many cases, not all cases, I wish to make clear by Council Officers allowing Private Hire Operations to breach the Planning Conditions relating to Parking firstly at the Application stage, because surficient parking for all vehicles a Private Hire Operation wishes to Operate with, must be approved with “Offstreet Parking” being a must, as to create a Rank on the Public Highway is Illegal for a Private Hire Operator or Driver.
The simplest way to ensure this is,to Number the Owner-Drivers Vehicle that has a Hire-Purchase Agreement in place with the Operator Licence Number as the starting Number on the Private Hire Licence Plate therefore if the Operator Licence is Number 08, the Operator Licence has the right to Park say 10 Vehicles and therefore trade with 10 Vehicles then the Plate Number should be 0801 up to 0810 therefore no more than 10 vehicles could operate under the Operator Licence granted by that Local Council, but this does not stop the Operator Licence Holder from accepting more hiring than they can provide vehicles for it just restrictes the number of vehilces it personally can operate and therefore a number of drivers on each of the 10 vehicles will be needed to operate the 10 vehicles and the rate chargable will have to reflect operational costs to ensure a driver actually recieves at least the National Minimum Wage for every hour they work and not based onthe takings over a 60 hour week based on 6 shifts per week of 10 hours with loads of vehicles paying a weekly rent who do not have there own Operator Licence in their own name to qualify as a Sub-Contractor or Self-Employed Person within “Hire or Reward Rules with Commercially Licensed Private Hire Licensed Vehicles.
The Law is the Law, but unfortunately the Council Officers do not reflect the law and this is what allows low cost fares within the Private Hire Industry unlike the Rules within the Hackney carriage Industry that reflects the need for operational costs to be covered and a wage to be achieved for the driver.
Thanks and I hope this helps the Private Hire Driver understand the Rules according to already established Case Law.
Dave Walls