INFLATION HITS FARES: Brighton taxi drivers handed SECOND 5% fares increase this year

Brighton and Hove licensed taxi drivers are set to get their SECOND tariff increase in the space of 12 months as fuel costs and cost of living continues to impact the industry.

Brighton and Hove City Council brought in the last hackney carriage fare increase in March 2022 and was based on a 5% increase. The hackney carriage trade sought a further increase of approximately 5%.

According to a Licensing Committee report, the justification by the trade for an increase in fares is the soaring inflation rates and high fuel costs as well as general motoring costs since February 2022 when Members considered the last Fare Review.

The proposal from the trade is based on the on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) produced by the Office of National Statistics which shows the increase in CPI from August 2019 to May 2022 of 10.5%.

The tariff increases proposed from the trade equates to a 10p increase per mile to £2.70. A new Night Tariff has been introduced (Tariff 3 & 8) from Midnight to 6.00am. This is to encourage more drivers to work during the night.

Tariffs 6 to 10 are in effect 1.5 x the tariffs of 1 to 4 which was introduced to encourage proprietors purchasing wheelchair accessible vehicles and is applied to vehicles carrying 5 or more passengers.

The Brighton and Hove City Council Licensing Committee approved the fares tariff proposal on Thursday 13 October.