Taxi drivers ask for increase in tariff during Eid festival and when it snows

Fares in Wakefield could rise for the first time in seven years which will also include a higher tariff for Eid festival and snow fall over 2cm. The council have been approached by drivers to okay an increase which could see the price of a 10 mile fare rise from £14.60 to £17.10 during the day. The Wakefield Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Drivers Association said that the increase to the hackney fares was due to rising costs and new local authority rules surrounding emissions. Chairman Wajid Ali said: "There's already been a 20 per cent rise in private hire fares recently, so we're catching up with them. “It does mean a higher cost for the public, but these are costs levied by the council that we need to pass on to the consumer.” Wakefield’s taxi drivers are also hoping to include more variables in its “third tariff” currently used during the Christmas and New Year period. Driver’s want to see the highest rate applied when more than 2cm of snow falls and during the Muslim festival of Eid to attract more drivers out to work. However, the council didn’t react well to the proposal and said it was "unacceptable" to force customers to pay more because of snow.