Late-night taxi fares pulled forward by an hour

Changes to taxi fares on the Isle of Man have seen maximum prices rise and the late-night tariff pulled forward by an hour.

The revisions by the Road Transport Licensing Committee (RTLC), the regulatory body responsible for overseeing taxi fares, were brought in after consultation with Isle of Man Unite Taxi Branch and the Manx Taxi Federation.

Secretary of both lobby groups Mike Birchall said the "majority of drivers" were happy with the moves to offset increasing costs.

But RTLC chairman Graham Curphey admitted it had been "a mistake" not publicise the changes more widely prior to them coming into force.

Drivers can still charge less than the maximum if they want and the increases only apply to "ply for hire" journeys - taxis flagged down or picked up at a rank - and not pre-booked journeys.

On Monday, the fare for tariff one, which applies to journeys made between 06:00 and 23:00 BST, increased by 30p to £3.80 for the first 60 seconds of a journey, while tariff two fares rose by 40p to £4.70 for the same distance.

A 50p rise in the surcharge for fares from the Isle of Man Airport rank, now set at £2, has also been introduced.

A survey by the committee found 39% of respondents backed no changes to tariffs, but 46% supported increase in fare prices of between 1% and 5%.

Mr Curphy said there had been complaints that there were "no taxis around at midnight when people kick out of pubs and clubs" and introducing the more expensive tariff at 23:00 might encourage more operators to pick up.

But if the change did not work for the industry the RTLC could "revisit it", he said.

Mr Birchall said drivers "needed some kind of increase" to cover insurance, mechanic and general cost of living increases.

They had backed the "reasonable" changes and did not want to increase prices any further to "hit the pockets of the general public", he added.

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