Reports against taxi drivers rise 14%
There has also been a notable increase in the number of taxi drivers issued with fixed charge offences — up 29% to the end of July.
Figures published by the National Transport Authority (NTA) show that 562 complaints were made by members of the public against taxi drivers up to the end of July — up from 494 over the corresponding period in 2015.
The past two years have experienced the highest ever number of complaints against taxi drivers — 952 in 2014 and 928 last year.
Almost half of complaints lodged so far this year relate to driver behaviour.
However, the increase in the level of complaints is largely due to a 20% increase in disputes over fares which now account for a third of all formal complaints made to the NTA.
Included in this year’s total are 17 complaints about the condition of the vehicle — down 10 over the corresponding period last year.
NTA compliance officials have carried out almost 6,500 roadside vehicle inspections so far in 2016 which have resulted in the issuing of 512 fixed payment notices for a variety of offences.
As it was in 2015, the single biggest offence continues to be the failure of taxi drivers to notify the NTA of the vehicle being operated.
One driver who failed to pay a €40 fixed payment notice for the offence was ordered to pay €900 by the district court after being prosecuted by the NTA.
Over 120 individuals have been detected operating, or offering service without a valid SPSV (small public service vehicle) licence to date in 2016, of which 80 are facing a criminal prosecution.
“For operating without a valid SPSV licence, a criminal conviction can be imposed together with a fine of up to €5,000 plus legal costs,” said the NTA.
Members of the public are also advised that they can provide any information on illegal activity within the tax industry on an anonymous basis to the NTA, with all issues followed up by its compliance team.
The latest figures show the number of people and vehicles operating in the taxi industry is continuing to decline. The number of SPSV licenses fell by 1.7% in the first seven months of the year.
The overall number of licensed SPSVs at the end of July was 20,791 — down from 21,146 at the start of 2016.
It has been falling annually since 2008 when they peaked at 27,429 but still considerably more than the 13,637 which existed just before the industry was deregulated in 2000.
In a similar fashion, the number of active driver licences has fallen by 2.3% since January.
At the end of July, a total of 26,797 drivers were licensed to drive taxis — a net decrease of 643 since the start of the year.
The numbers working in the industry peaked in May 2009 at 47,259.
More than half of all drivers operate in Dublin.
Meanwhile, the NTA is due to publish details shortly about the average earnings of taxi drivers in Dublin, Cork and Athlone.
The NTA decided to conduct research on pay levels within the industry to enable individuals thinking about applying for a SPSV licence to be aware of the standard of living they could expect from working as a taxi drivers.
