Birmingham City Council has decided to increase the cost of annual vehicle and licensing fees, in order to match charges in other major cities and boroughs.
The fee for a new one year licence has risen from £380 to £478, while renewal licences have gone up from £190 to £240. One way private hire taxis in this region can reduce the impact of these expenses is by finding a cheap private hire insurance quote.
Minicab drivers in the city are so angry with these increases that they’ve threatened to go on a one day strike. To show they were serious, a warning was sent directly to the council’s licensing department in Aston when 250 private hire drivers staged a protest outside their offices.
Joint Chair of the Birmingham Private Hire Drivers’ Group, Hakil Ahmed said, “All the council is concerned about is making the rules up as they go along. But there are things we can do try to make them change their mind. We’ve got a go-slow demonstration through Birmingham planned for June 1st and we can also do a withdrawal of service to show how essential our services are to the community.”
A spokesperson for the city council defended the renewal costs and explained the new prices affected drivers by adding just £1 per week to their expenses. “Compared to other expenses drivers incur, such as radio hire, fuel, insurance and vehicle servicing, this still represents a very small proportion of their total expenses.”
“All money gathered through licence fees is invested directly back into the service. This rise is necessary partly due to fees having been artificially frozen or increased only marginally over the past five years, and therefore not covering costs.”
