Basingstoke and Deane Council to waive £300 licensing fees for low-carbon cabs
- Perry Richardson
- 6 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will introduce a new financial boost for low-carbon taxi owners from next April. The authority has confirmed it will remove two years of licensing fees for extra low emission private hire vehicles, cutting costs by up to £300 per car.
The move builds on the council’s existing £5,000 grant scheme for electrically powered hackney carriages. Eight new electric cabs are set to join the rank at Basingstoke railway station after the latest application was approved.
The borough has recorded its highest ever number of licensed taxis at 492. Nearly a third of these are now electric, extra low emission or hybrid. The council hopes the fee waiver will encourage drivers replacing vehicles to choose cleaner models.
Fee exemptions will run from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2028 and apply to private hire vehicles producing no more than 50g of CO₂ per kilometre. This covers most hybrid, hydrogen and electric cars. The policy links directly to the climate emergency declaration made by the council in 2019.
Drivers can find fee details at the council’s licensing webpage and can apply for the £5,000 electric hackney carriage grant online.
Cllr Chris Tomblin, Cabinet Member for Climate and Ecological Emergency, said: “This initiative, when it comes in next April, will make it free to license low-emission private hire vehicles in the borough for two years.
“Our support will save their owners up to £300 per vehicle, supporting the local taxi trade. It will also give residents and visitors more environmentally friendly ways to get around that help to keep our air cleaner and cut the borough’s carbon too.”
