Boston Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved a rise in maximum hackney carriage fares after the Boston Hackney Carriage Association warned that four years of climbing costs were squeezing the trade.
The decision was taken on 30 September 2026 and is recorded as approved subject to call-in on the council’s democracy pages. Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, any agreed change still has to be advertised locally with at least 14 days for objections before it can take effect.
What’s changing
Boston sets three tariffs for distance, waiting time and permitted extras. The approved package leaves the flag fall unchanged but lifts the unit charge for each 190 yards after the first 400 yards — to 30p on tariff 1, 45p on tariff 2 and 60p on tariff 3. Waiting time moves with those same unit rates.
Council papers put a typical one-mile tariff 1 job at about £5.50 instead of today’s £4.80, and a ten-mile tariff 1 job at about £29.80 instead of £21.00. Tariff 2 and 3 one-mile estimates rise to about £8.25 and £11.00.
Other agreed changes:
- Standard tariff 2 starts at 9pm instead of 11pm
- Christmas and New Year tariff 2 starts at noon instead of 4pm
- Maximum booking fee rises from £8 to £10
- The initial diesel surcharge rises from 20p to £1 when the national average price is above £1.80 a litre, with a further 20p for each extra 10p on diesel
Drivers who do not want to recalibrate can stay on a lower meter rate. The council sets only the maximum.
Why the trade asked
The association said the last maximum-fare rise was in August 2022. In July it told members insurance with a full no-claims discount had climbed from £1,091 in 2022 to £1,438 in 2026, road tax from £135 to £200, vehicle licence fees from £151 to £191, driver licence fees from £106.50 to £184.30, and servicing labour from £35 to £45 an hour.
BHCA chair Keith Merlo said the trade had tried to keep prices down so customers were not scared away, but asked whether operators could still afford to continue. Fuel prices remain a live pressure for meter work across Lincolnshire.
What councillors said
Finance portfolio holder Sandeep Ghosh called it a hard decision that needed to “match up this price just to make it break even.” Environmental services portfolio holder Callum Butler said fuel prices were “astronomical” and that “taxi drivers need to make a living.”
Infrastructure portfolio holder Christopher Mountain stressed the rise applies only to hackney carriages, not private hire, and that the council was striking a “fine balance” between supporting drivers and keeping fares affordable. At the earlier Regulatory & Appeals stage, some members had worried Boston could become among the dearest in the county for working passengers.
Hackney only — not private hire
Private hire operators set their own prices and are outside the council maximum. Rank and street-hail work in Boston will feel the change first once the statutory notice process is complete and any call-in window has closed.