Taxi fare review in Highland

The public is being asked for its views on proposals by The Highland Council to review the maximum level of charges for the hire of taxis or private hire cars fitted with taxi meters operating under licence of The Highland Council.

The Council has a statutory duty in terms of Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 to review its scales for the fares and other taxi related charges every 18 months.

The general proposals are that from September 2015 the changes to fares will be:

• A 20p increase to the cost of the initial yardage for Tariff 1. The effect of this would be a 20p increase on all fares regardless of the distance travelled.
• A 30p increase to the cost of the initial yardages for Tariffs 2 and 3. The effect of this would be a 30p increase on all fares regardless of the distance travelled.
• A supplementary booking charge will increase by £1.50 from a maximum of £6.50 to a maximum of £8.00 to compensate for the cost of the outward journey for hires which commence 5 miles (previously 3 miles) or more away from the taxi or taxi base (whichever is the nearer) and the customer wishes to travel further away. 

Full details of the public notice of Review of Taxi Fares is on the Council’s website at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/13343/taxi_tariff_advert_14_may_2015

The current level of taxi fares are also on the council’s website at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/info/1526/public_and_community_transport/316/taxi_fares

Members of the public are invited to submit their comments (by Friday 19 June 2015) about the proposals by e-mail to licensing@highland.gov.uk; or in writing to:

Alaisdair Mackenzie, Legal Manager (Regulatory Services), The Highland Council, Tigh na Sgire, Park Lane, Portree, IV51 9GP

All representations received will be considered by the Highland Licensing Committee on 11 August 2015 before the new tariff is agreed.