New Taxi Legislation Will Affect East Riding Residents

Changes to taxi legislation which come into force next month affecting private hire services could mean the firm you’ve booked isn’t the company picking you up.

The changes come into force on 1, October 2015 and will allow private hire firms based in the East Riding to sub-contract customer bookings to other companies outside the county.

This means that if you make a booking with a firm in the East Riding, that company can pass your booking onto a firm in another area, such as Hull, Scarborough or Selby to come and collect you.

As the customer may not know who is going to be picking them up, East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s licensing team are urging people to follow the following advice:

• tell the operator when booking your journey that you wish to be collected by a driver from their company only
• be sure to check if a driver turns up they are licensed and they have your details – do not give this information to the driver yourself
• if you are unsure ring the company you made the booking with to check if it’s the right vehicle
• if your journey is sub-contracted to another firm without your permission and you are not happy, next time use a different company and always confirm you do not want your booking sub-contracted to another firm.

Councillor Shaun Horton, portfolio holder for community involvement and local partnerships at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:

“We want to make people aware of these important changes as I’m sure people who book with a particular firm do not expect to be picked up by another company they may not know or trust.

“Licensed drivers in the East Riding are subject to rigorous checks to ensure they are safe and suitable to transport people home.

“If you book with an East Riding operator, you have the right to ask for that company to pick you up, which should be requested at the time of booking.”