Northern Ireland’s maximum taxi fare tariff is under review as diesel climbs toward £2 a litre, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has confirmed.
In a written Assembly answer to SDLP MLA Colin McGrath, who asked what support her department was giving self-employed taxi drivers facing higher fuel and running costs, the minister said the Department for Infrastructure sets the maximum tariff and that the calculation already takes in fuel, insurance, maintenance and other overheads.
“Officials have been monitoring increasing costs and are progressing a review of the current maximum tariff,” she said. “I have instructed them to undertake further detailed analysis to assess the impact on the industry in this context, while balancing the need to maintain an affordable service for passengers.”
No new rates have been published. The last increase came into force on 5 December 2023, when daytime Rate 1 rose by 9.5% and other rates by 19.5%.
Fuel pressure
The Consumer Council’s Fuel Price Checker for 1 October 2026 put the Northern Ireland diesel average at 193.3p a litre, up from 189.9p the week before. Petrol averaged 167.2p, up from 166.0p.
Barry Toland of Limavady’s Bell’s Taxis told The Irish News diesel was about £1.95 a litre locally and that firms could not keep absorbing the cost. He said the trade was only starting to recover driver numbers after Covid, with his firm taking on eight or nine new drivers into a fleet of about 35.
He said the statutory maximum was not being applied in Co Derry, but that sustained prices would force higher fares. “The food is going to go up and everybody is going to put up the prices, so we can’t be left behind,” he said. Asked what Stormont could do, he pointed to illegal unlicensed and uninsured “taxis” rather than a subsidy.
Class A and B taxis must not charge more than the metered maximum set in regulations; they can charge less. nidirect still lists the December 2023 rates, including a Rate 1 initial charge of £3.20 and about £4.40 for the first mile.
McGrath has also tabled further questions on when the tariff was last reviewed and whether it still reflects real fuel, insurance and maintenance costs, due for answer by 8 October 2026.