London based private hire firm Green Tomato Cars set to increase prices due to latest congestion cha

London based private hire car company Green Tomato Cars is set to increase fares by 4-6% to protect its 400 drivers from facing a reduction in earnings of up to £2,500 per year it has said.

The fare increase comes following the decision to end private hire vehicle congestion charge exemption which the company says has been poorly thought through, calling it premature. A revamp of the company's whole pricing structure will take place to help spread the cost of the Congestion Charge.

As reported in the FleetWorld, the MD of the firm has warned that the impact of the new charge would see fares in and around Central London increase by as much as 50%, so to avoid such a huge inflation, they have decided to implement a general review of fares.

Customers travelling in Central London during chargeable hours will pay a fixed top-up on a journey by journey basis, while the company will absorb some of the cost to avoid Central London fares increasing disproportionately. Jonny Goldstone, co-founder and managing director of Green Tomato Cars has said that he supports and understands the Mayor's "admirable mission" to reduce emissions and improve air quality, but says the infrastructure and technology for fully electric cars is not there.

He said that the pure electric models on the market are either too expensive, too small, or don’t have sufficient range to make them viable options for the company to use.

This is a view echoed by many of the city's iconic black taxi drivers who are also facing difficulties with new regulations being enforced on them in a bid to make the entire fleet zero emissions capable.