London taxi delicensing set to end, but discussions underway to allow scheme to continue says Mayor

Image credit: LEVC

The taxi delicensing scheme which has helped remove over 3,500 diesel taxis from the capital is set to end, but discussions are now underway to allow the scheme to continue.

Transport for London’s (TfL) taxi delicensing scheme was first launched to support taxi drivers who wanted to delicense their Euro 3, 4 or 5 vehicles. The scheme was brought in to speed up the shift to cleaner Zero-Emission Capable (ZEC) black cabs.

As part of the scheme, diesel cab owners with taxis less than 11 years old could surrender their taxi vehicle licence and plate in exchange for a payment from TfL. Once a taxi vehicle licence had been surrendered and the vehicle delicensed it could not be licensed in London again.

Delicensing payments handed out to cabbies and fleet owners were worth between £6,000 and £10,000. TfL are not accepting any new applications, but are reviewing existing applications to confirm whether taxi owners are still interested in delicensing their vehicle.

Assembly Member Krupesh Hirani asked the Mayor of London whether there were any plans to extend London’s taxi delicensing scheme given the number of diesel taxis still active in the capital.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, responded: “The existing taxi delicensing scheme is coming to an end and I have asked Transport for London (TfL) to consider the feasibility and benefits of re-purposing any remaining funding from the existing scheme as well as re-allocating a portion of the funding from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles to enable the scheme to continue.”