Taxi compensation

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Roderick Smith
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Taxi compensation

Post by Roderick Smith »

Roderick.

Fare levy to pay taxi driver compensation scheme.
PerthNow October 29, 2017.
TAXI and Uber fares are set to go up, with passengers to be slugged a flat fee or a percentage surcharge to fund compensation for struggling cabbies.
It is understoodthe State Government will in coming weeks announce a plan that would see the owners of the 1000 taxi plates in WA compensated between $100,000 and $200,000 each.
Taxi industry sources said the value of plates had collapsed from more than $300,000 in 2014, the year ride-sharing giant Uber launched in Perth, to just $70,000.
It’s understood that under the “Uber tax” plan, the Government would offer to voluntarily buy back plates. If every cabbie accepts the offer, it could cost up to $200 million.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti previously said she would consider a flat $2 fee per trip paid by passengers using all taxi or ride-share services to fund the compensation.
But sources told The Sunday Times the Government was also investigating a surcharge of about 5 to 10 per cent on fares. It was considered by some that a flat fee on shorter trips would be unfair.
Final details are still being thrashed out, but sources say the McGowan Government has decided against the Victorian model — where passengers pay a $1 levy on trips — where licence holders receive $100,000 for their first licence and $50,000 for each additional licence for up to three more.
Talks with the industry have been ongoing since the State election in March and it’s understood the Government has refused demands by plate owners that they each receive $295,000.
Athan Tsirigotis, a plate owner who heads the Taxi Operators Legal Defence Group, yesterday said “anything below $200,000 is a slap in the face”.
He said taxi revenues had dropped about 70 per cent since the arrival of Uber three years ago.
“They (drivers and plate owners) are a wreck — financially and emotionally,” he said. “People have had nervous breakdowns.
“We have had two people now in the industry who have topped themselves — that I know personally — because of the devaluation of plates. All of a sudden their industry and asset is absolutely worthless.
“These are hard-working people — some paid close to $320,000 and now they are valued as low as $70,000.”
The previous Barnett government created a $27.5 million hardship assistance package to help the industry adapt. That meant compensation payments of $20,000 to plate owners.
On winning office, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said she had asked her department to investigate models for a voluntary buyback scheme.
It’s understood that legislation would need to be introduced into Parliament before the scheme came into effect, probably next year.
Ms Saffioti declined to comment yesterday.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western ... bea38dfb1d
Merc1107
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Re: Taxi compensation

Post by Merc1107 »

The whole reason Uber was able to (illegally) flourish was because of the backwards and outdated Taxi-plate system.
Few people have any grasp of the price-gouging the government engages in that makes it impractical for any single driver to own a plate (rather, someone with lots of money owns the plate and 'leases' it).

Competition is fair, but the Government have essentially allowed Uber to illicitly come in and ruin the legitimate taxi industry. I would like to see the Government completely overhaul the regulations to either force Uber vehicles onto Taxi-plates, or scrap it entirely and compensate the industry for the loss of income.

Uber may be cheaper, but I'd never use them given their tactics.
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TP1462
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Re: Taxi compensation

Post by TP1462 »

I completely disagree I don’t think that Uber customers should be slugged any sort of levy to cover the taxi industry, it’s their own fault for not modernising and innovating to keep up with competition or to stay relevant the taxi industry is also built on a very much outdated model and they’ve had a monopoly for far too long and now we’ve got competition such as Uber and Shofer that are doing it better they’re having a whinge to the government, the taxi industries monopoly has allowed them to get away with higher prices, terrible customer service and dodgy business practices either get with the program or lose its kind of like how retail is losing to online shopping for very similar reasons


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Civic Bossman
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Re: Taxi compensation

Post by Civic Bossman »

TP1462 wrote:I completely disagree I don’t think that Uber customers should be slugged any sort of levy to cover the taxi industry, it’s their own fault for not modernising and innovating to keep up with competition or to stay relevant the taxi industry is also built on a very much outdated model and they’ve had a monopoly for far too long and now we’ve got competition such as Uber and Shofer that are doing it better they’re having a whinge to the government, the taxi industries monopoly has allowed them to get away with higher prices, terrible customer service and dodgy business practices either get with the program or lose its kind of like how retail is losing to online shopping for very similar reasons


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I agree. I used to own video stores, but a changing market lead to their downfall. I could claim it was the government's fault because they introduced NBN and didn't combat piracy. Unfortunately it was just the life of business. Nobody bailed me out.
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TP1462
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Taxi compensation

Post by TP1462 »

Firstly I’m sorry to hear to lost your business, the problem is people become complacent in their business model that they can’t quickly adapt and innovate to a changing market, the taxi industry really does have themselves to blame become complacent and someone will come and take away your business it’s that simple, I can understand to a degree the point on the expensive Rego costs but I don’t think Uber and other ride sharing users should be slugged a fee to pay for the taxi industries incompetence, it’s simple if you’re going to become a taxi driver know what you’re getting into and I have seen taxi drivers striking along the terrace and leaving passengers stranded by the side of the road that generally really needed a taxi they ended up getting an Uber, taxi drivers would rather strike instead of doing their job and leave a potentially paying customer stranded and they wonder they’re going out of business


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Merc1107
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Re: Taxi compensation

Post by Merc1107 »

The taxi industry are not at all at fault for having to pay extortionate prices to-date for the licensing plate scheme mandated. The government are ultimately the ones responsible for destroying what was a profitable industry by failing to either force Uber to use Taxi plates, or scrapping Taxi plates altogether.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that I'm not anti-competition (I'm an economics student, that's bordering on blasphemy!). Uber did cover a legitimate need in an (initially) illegitimate fashion. I have to stress, the taxi industry were left completely disadvantaged by the regulations they were covered under. As it was, Taxi drivers earned well below minimum wage on an average day after fuel & license plate rent. Now? I shudder to think.

Using the video store analogy isn't quite as relevant - that industry wasn't shoehorned into a stance where it couldn't compete due to Government regulation. Technology, and consumer preferences simply evolved. People still want taxis, but evidently, a large number are price-sensitive.

What has happened is close to a textbook case of Government failure. One could also argue the government created Market Failure by fuelling an environment where monopolist behaviour could thrive, i.e. through the plate owners (who lease to drivers) the taxi plates.
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