Glasgow Taxis says every cab on its fleet now carries an outward-facing sticker telling passengers the meter will be used when a hire starts and ends in the city.
The sign reads: “Pick Up Glasgow – Drop Glasgow. Meter MUST be engaged by law. Card Payment Accepted.” Chairman Dougie McPherson said a passenger should be able to see that promise before getting in. Members backed the signs at the company’s annual general meeting earlier this year, and the company says they are now on the whole fleet.
Glasgow Taxis says the signs follow complaints, including on social media, about city journeys quoted or charged with the meter left off. It says that was a problem across the Glasgow trade, and it has asked other operators to follow.
What the licence already requires
Glasgow taxi driver licence condition 8 already says the driver must operate the taximeter at all times within the licensed area (taxi driver licence conditions). For a journey inside the city boundary, the fare is the metered fare on the council tariff (information for passengers).
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 says a taxi fare in the licensing area must not be greater than the scales the council has fixed (section 17). Demanding more is an offence, with a fine up to level 4 on the standard scale, currently £2,500 (section 21).
The condition is already being enforced. In March, Glasgow’s licensing committee suspended driver Muhammad Rashid for two weeks after a hire from Queen Street station. Passengers said he told them the meter was broken and wanted a £6 minimum. He told the committee he had forgotten to switch it on, and that he took no money (Glasgow Live).
The card line on the sticker is the company’s own promise. The council says a passenger can pay a taxi fare in cash. Card is there when the driver offers it.
Private hire is separate. Those fares are set by the booking office, and the council does not put them on the taxi tariff.
Outside the boundary
A hire that ends outside Glasgow is a different job. The driver does not have to take it. If the driver does, the fare is not on the council scale. Licence condition 7 says the passenger must be told, before the cab moves off, that the fare is not regulated, and must be given the cost or the way it will be worked out.
The council’s passenger page says the meter still stays on for the whole journey. The driver can agree a flat fare, or run the meter and add a boundary charge. Either way, the extra is agreed before the journey starts.
Glasgow Taxis already uses the words “price promise” on its own site for another arrangement. Where the company has given one, the passenger pays that figure even if the meter shows more. Airport hires and other work outside the city are checked with the call centre (fare estimates).