Taxi - 9 year rule

Yea thats what i was thinking.somebody said on a different post ,that it wont affect some drivers till the end of the year not sure why.maybe only new drivers from now and others have the year to change cars.

hEireann for the copy:

I am accusing the Commission for Taxi Regulation of having no regard and for putting extra unnecessary financial hardship on many of the taxi owners in Ireland. The Commission for Taxi Regulation has stated from the year 2007 right up to the end of the third quarter of 2009 that existing vehicle licence holders did not have to change their vehicles until licence renewal date in 2012. What the Regulator meant was that all vehicles older than 9yrs upon renewal date in 2012 would have to be changed for a vehicle under 9yrs old, for example if your vehicle was 8yrs 10months old and was presented for licence renewal in 2012 the vehicle would not be granted a licence because by the time of its next renewal date the vehicle would be 9yrs 10months old. The age of the vehicle is determined by the month and year the vehicle was first registered to go out on the road not necessary the number plate; so if the licence expired at end of Feb and the vehicle was first registered in May 03, then that vehicle would be entitled for one more licence renewal in 2012.

Then in late 2009 the Commission made changes to this law by fast tracking this nine year rule to renewal date 2011; many taxi vehicle licence holders are very angry and feel this act is unfair and unjust, they have made provisions with financial issues and personal issues that they may have and they believed that the dead line was 2012 to have these issues in order; there is no way that any licence holder would have thought any different because this information was explained in all of these booklets that were issued by the Commission for Taxi Regulation.

These are abstracts from these booklets of what the Commission said.

In the Commissions booklet National Vehicle Standards 2007 it states clearly that the age requirement of nine years for existing SPSV licence holders shall not commence until January 2012 (section 5 p 17). The Commission also repeats this again in the booklet Always Driving Forward, Action Plan 2008-2009 following an extensive process; new vehicle standards for the industry were published in November 2007. The new standards will introduce reforms across a wide range of areas within the sector on a phased basis from 2008 to 2009. Standards Taxis and Hackneys (for new applicants from 01/0/09, existing licence holders from 01/01/12. The Commission then also repeats this again in The Official Manual For Operating In The SPSV Industry 2009 The standards set out in the National Vehicle Standard document will apply in full to all new licences from 1 January 2010. Existing vehicle licence holders have until licence renewal during 2012 to comply (section 3 p65).

The commission put this information out to all in the taxi industry and many of us made provision in the belief, that by 2012 we would have existing loans on our cars and business cleared and that maybe in 2012 we might be able to look for more financial help to stay in the industry, many of us would not have used the year 2012 as our target only that the Commission expressed and implied that this was the year that the nine year rule came into effect for existing vehicle licence holders.

I myself am going to be out of pocket because of what the Commission expressed and implied. The Commission is now saying that the nine year rule will be fast tracked and come into effect at renewal date 2011, which means that I have to make provisions to seek more finance to replace my car and to also pay the finance on the loan that I had made agreements to repay in year 2012. In the economic down turn I know that this is not going to be possible for many others and myself, it will probably be the end for some of us in the taxi industry. I would be hoping that the Commission could be taken to task and be held liable for the losses and costs of what is incurred because of what was expressed and implied by the Commission.

I think it is a ridiculous rule and will again lengthen our dole queues. In the present climate it will be uneconomical for many drivers to upgrade their cars. I have no difficulty with the cars being asked to meet high standards, size , cleanliness , nct etc. Some drivers may have a 2000 Merc or similar in immaculate and are being told it is not fit for the crappy Irish roads. :rolleyes::

Max Power1 wrote: »

So, as a TLDR of the last post:

Taxi drivers have no regard for their customers, and expect them to sit in to 15 year old corollas.

+1

10 PRINT "TaxiDriver: I own a taxi and can't afford a new one"
20 PRINT "Boardsie: Tough, a Taxi should be safe and fit for purpose"
30 GOTO 10.

We've been here before, we'll be here again. Very old basic cars without airconditioning, or more importantly safety aids such as Airbags and ABS, not to mention being big enough to carry a few people and their luggage are not suitable in this day and age. Suck it up, every other industry is forced to go with the times, Taxi drivers shouldn't get special exemption - especially when they're responsible for peoples lives. Given the standard of Taxi driving I'm seeing lately, the cars should also be covered in bubblewrap too just to be extra safe.

From looking at the model reports here, it seems 2007 and newer Kia Carnival will not meet licensing requirements as a 7-seater, and will have to be run as a 4 passenger taxi!

2006 and older Kia Carnival/Sedona will still meet the licensing requirements as a 7 seater (6-passenger taxi).

Seems they are being ridden both ways... does anyone know if this represents the final decision on model specification?

CabanasBoy wrote: »

AFAIK the NCT for taxi's is no more stringent than for regular cars, the suitability test (which follows the NCT test) only checks additional items like roof sign, meter, fire ex, first aid kit and most important of all, the torch!

No most important of all is pen and paper

phutyle wrote: »

Taxi drivers themselves claim that there are too many taxis on our roads, because deregulation lowered the bar for entry to the industry. They want changes made that will raise the bar again - putting the "surplus" taxi drivers out of work.

Why the complaints now that this move will put drivers out work of when the bar is being raised in a different area - one that is of benefit to paying customers?

Surely the "professional" taxi drivers will get what they want from this - the "casual" ones won't want to invest in newer cars for the job, and will leave the industry.

I agree entirely with this post. For ages taxi drivers have been moaning about the number of cars on the road. Then when a law is brought in to reduce the number of cars on the road in a way that benefits the consumer they moan again - it shows that most of them just really want a way to get rid of certain drivers they deem unworthy of the plates, the newer drivers.

Delighted with this law. Next step hopefully a standardisation of taxi colours, make them all white or yellow or something else that'll stand out and be easy to see.

I cannot understand the outcry from taxi drivers. Surely someone whose car is their business should be about to afford at least a 20k car every 3 or 4 years.
Taxi drivers seem to want to drive around in 1k cars. It pretty sh1ty of them really.

There is a list of car costing 6k earlier in the thread. These are cars that can be used 3 or 4 years (based on age). Whats the problem? Asumming car is worthless when finished, thats 1500 per year in depreciation, thats 28 quid a week. I do feel sorry for the guys with for example a 00 S Class but this is in the pipeline for a while & arrangements should be made before now