Taxi firms warned over disabled fares (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Mr Munir – yes ur right there should be no discrimination but you're fares are controlled by meters and rates set by the Council….so if it takes you half an hour to load and unload a wheelchair from your taxi you can charge the extra time because your meter justifies it….but if a Private Hire driver charges extra because of the time taken, it becomes discrimination ? So why don’t Hackney charge less than the rate on the meter for when they pick up wheelchair passengers…that would be fair wouldn’t it and less discriminatory – or would that be "favouring" disabled passengers.
In any case wheelchair users are entitled to claim Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance which are allowances to pay for the costs that are related to their disability including the cost of transport to help them get around.

Seems simple now if you have a wheelchair use a Private taxi for cheaper fare.
If you use a Hackney carriage taxi you pay more via the meter.
Council seems to have not thought their system through fully.

count_cillla wrote:
Mr Munir – yes ur right there should be no discrimination but you're fares are controlled by meters and rates set by the Council….so if it takes you half an hour to load and unload a wheelchair from your taxi you can charge the extra time because your meter justifies it….but if a Private Hire driver charges extra because of the time taken, it becomes discrimination ? So why don’t Hackney charge less than the rate on the meter for when they pick up wheelchair passengers…that would be fair wouldn’t it and less discriminatory – or would that be "favouring" disabled passengers. In any case wheelchair users are entitled to claim Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance which are allowances to pay for the costs that are related to their disability including the cost of transport to help them get around.

in a sense I agree with what you are saying as they do get a living allownace for being disabled, but the meters go by the amount of milage and not by the time it takes to load and unload. My daughter and I had to get a mini bus due to having a lot of shopping and we were charged more beause of this but we didnt mind as we had to get our shopping home. I think taxi's should display their prices just like any other business's do, that way we all know where we stand disalbed or not.

Joedavid wrote:
Seems simple now if you have a wheelchair use a Private taxi for cheaper fare.
If you use a Hackney carriage taxi you pay more via the meter.
Council seems to have not thought their system through fully.

Private hire is cheaper anyway.

Huneybunch wrote:

count_cillla wrote: Mr Munir – yes ur right there should be no discrimination but you're fares are controlled by meters and rates set by the Council….so if it takes you half an hour to load and unload a wheelchair from your taxi you can charge the extra time because your meter justifies it….but if a Private Hire driver charges extra because of the time taken, it becomes discrimination ? So why don’t Hackney charge less than the rate on the meter for when they pick up wheelchair passengers…that would be fair wouldn’t it and less discriminatory – or would that be "favouring" disabled passengers. In any case wheelchair users are entitled to claim Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance which are allowances to pay for the costs that are related to their disability including the cost of transport to help them get around.

in a sense I agree with what you are saying as they do get a living allownace for being disabled, but the meters go by the amount of milage and not by the time it takes to load and unload. My daughter and I had to get a mini bus due to having a lot of shopping and we were charged more beause of this but we didnt mind as we had to get our shopping home. I think taxi's should display their prices just like any other business's do, that way we all know where we stand disalbed or not.

Actually Honey Bunch… you may not be aware and most Hackney drivers will not tell you this (but the Hackney office will confirm it) that the meters starts and rolls until it is stopped. It covers mileage, waiting at traffic lights, and loading and unloading. There is a charge also for part mileage. Next time you get in a Hackney watch how that meter whizzes around. That's why Hackney Drivers think they are taking the moral high ground because the Council have authorised this system of charging.

Unlike Private Hire where there is a straight forward charge for mileage only…. You could be stuck at the Peel Park Mela in July in traffic for 15 minutes but not be charged extra by Private Hire, but the journey with Hackney will make sure the driver does not lose out because of the traffic jam.

Not all disabled people are charged extra by Private Hire, for example if there is a guide dog for blind people then there is no extra charge as there is no extra time with load/unload.

In my opinion they should get rid of Hackney as there are enough Private Hire firms in Bradford now to provide a ready and reliable service to the whole district. Hackney is just an unnecessary cost for the Council to administer at a time when cuts are needed.

It amazes me that in the 21st Century there are still people with the rotten attitude to discriminate against somebody because they are not as able bodied as others. What the hell kind of a city do we live in??

jonathancrewdson wrote:
It amazes me that in the 21st Century there are still people with the rotten attitude to discriminate against somebody because they are not as able bodied as others. What the hell kind of a city do we live in??

What the hell kind of a city do we live in??

A Third World dump of a City!

Charging more because their DLA will pay for it, is nothing short of fraud.
It's the same scenario as private landlords charging higher rents for people getting housing benefit, than people who are working...because the DWP will pay the higher amount.

The attitude of certain people really annoy me especially when it comes to disabled people.
In one hand you have people who do charge extra for carrying disabled people but also certain disabled benefits are there to help you get around. come on play fare stop ripping people off. Also what about these companies who sell disabled people scooters and wheelchairs more needs doing to vet these companies as people are being sold stuff they don't need.

Albion. wrote:

Joedavid wrote: Seems simple now if you have a wheelchair use a Private taxi for cheaper fare. If you use a Hackney carriage taxi you pay more via the meter. Council seems to have not thought their system through fully.

Private hire is cheaper anyway.

But more risky.

Albion. wrote:

Joedavid wrote: Seems simple now if you have a wheelchair use a Private taxi for cheaper fare. If you use a Hackney carriage taxi you pay more via the meter. Council seems to have not thought their system through fully.

Private hire is cheaper anyway.

So how come so many can afford to live in £100,000+ houses? Surely they aren't putting their customers at risk by working long hours?

Colin Allcars wrote:

Albion. wrote:

Joedavid wrote: Seems simple now if you have a wheelchair use a Private taxi for cheaper fare. If you use a Hackney carriage taxi you pay more via the meter. Council seems to have not thought their system through fully.

Private hire is cheaper anyway.

So how come so many can afford to live in £100,000+ houses? Surely they aren't putting their customers at risk by working long hours?

Maybe they take in laundry in their spare time ;-)

Well done People First who regularly campaign for the rights of disabled people!!!

A number of people have commented that disabled people receive DLA to cover their additional travelling costs however, a significant number of disabled people do not enjoy this benefit which at the highest rate is £54.05/week. I understand that some of the journeys involved in the exercise mounted by Keighley People First were between Bradford and Keighley where figures in excess of £20 were quoted one way. So even if you were to be on the highest rate of DLA and not all wheelchair users are as not all disabled people use a wheelchair; you could only make one round trip from Bradford to Keighley each week with enough left for a short local trip or to pay for other essentials that you may need in order to live.

Disgraceful. It`s all down to greed.

Alot is being made of the fact that someone using a wheelchair recieves the mobility element of the Disability Living Allowance, this benefit is paid in recognition that the individual requires additional support or help in living a quality life with dignity and respect and to enjoy where possible the opportunity to choose to go out a reasonable amount of times per week, it is a fact the disabled people have more health care appointments, on top of this they require taxis to go food shopping, shopping for household goods, taxis to visit a friend or family, infact a taxi everytime they leave thier homes, their benefits are not paid to them to then pay to taxi drivers who feel it is acceptable to charge someone extra, as what they are doing is in effect charging someone for being disabled. Its not that many years ago that airline companies were stopped from charging wheelchair users for the use of a wheelchair.