London Mayor will not change taxi delicensing payments despite poor take up

The London Mayor will not make changes to delicensing payments offered to taxi drivers despite its poor uptake.

Currently taxi drivers in the capital are offered between £1,200 to £5,000 to delicensing their diesel taxis and make the change to a cleaner electric taxi. Taxis between ten and eleven years old are offered the maximum £5,000 which some drivers argue is well below the market value of the taxi. Drivers owning vehicles fourteen to fifteen years old, which are in their last year of service, are offered just £1,200. As of 7th September 2018 only 129 Taxi delicensing payments have been made to drivers since the electric taxi was launched at the start of the year. London Assembly member Keith Prince asked the London Mayor Sadiq Khan whether he would review the structure of the scheme to encourage increased uptake at the recent Mayors question time session. The London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “London's filthy air is a public health crisis and taxis are a major contributor to pollution, especially in central London, because of the very limited choice - until recently - of only diesel vehicles available for use. “That's why I have put in place a range of measures to help our world-famous trade become the greenest by giving drivers the financial support, priority and charging infrastructure they need to switch to cleaner models. “I will continue to keep this package of measures under review to increase the uptake of zero-emission capable taxis in London to contribute to my wider air quality plans.”