Reading Borough Council incurs cab drivers’ fury as councillors vote to keep cap on taxi numbers

Reading Borough Council sparked fury among local cab drivers after voting to keep a cap on taxi numbers in the region.

The decision by the Licensing Applications committee was in response to a driver-funded survey, which found that there was no need for more taxis in Reading. 

This sparked the fury of a number of rental taxi drivers who have been working in the region for over a decade but do not hold a hackney carriage licence.

The angry drivers handed in a petition to the council protesting at the decision, branding it totally unfair.

Sohail Abbass, representing the group of drivers, stated that the cabbies have been working as rental taxi drivers for more than ten years and it's been a long time to wait for a hackney carriage licence.

He then explained that if the council say that there is not enough work, then how can the drivers have still been workimg there for a decade or more. Mr Abbass asked the council to rethink their stance on the situation.  The Reading Chronicle reported that the survey suggests a 14 per cent reduction in usage of taxis at ranks since the last survey in 2015, while 4 per cent of passengers experienced a delay of a minute or more at a rank. Ali Sheikh, vice chair of the Reading Cab Drivers Association, responded to the group by saying: “If all those people suddenly own cabs it is too much for the trade. We are happy to go with what the survey says.”

Image Source: Geograph

Image Author: John Lucas