Dirty Talk - Soiling charge set to change for Edinburgh taxis to include additions to sick clean up

If new licensing policies are agreed, Edinburgh taxi drivers will be permitted to charge a soiling fee for clean-ups other than for just travel sickness, as the current regulation states.

At the moment cabbies in Edinburgh are entitled to charge a soiling fee of up to £50 for travel sickness, but if the new policy comes into play they will be allowed to charge the fee for any mess that means their taxi would need to be taken off the road for cleaning.

Many other licensing authorities around the UK already adopt this policy, which protects drivers from falling out of pocket through no fault of their own.

London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham use this policy - although soiling charges vary depending on the individual licensing authority.

Transport for London's current policy states: 'The driver may charge the passenger up to £60 for soiling if it requires the taxi to be taken out of service for cleaning.'

Edinburgh's plans come as the council discusses a possible fare increase for the city's taxi drivers.

According to Edinburgh Live, the new tariff structure proposals would see an extra 40p added on to all journeys as part of the "flag drop" fee, as well as a 3.3% increase on fares.

The additional passenger charge would go up to 30p under the plans.