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Location: Transportation
Discussion: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
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Anonymous |
Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Feb 28 2008, 6:02 AM EST It is ridiculous that somebody wanting to operate a taxi should have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a licence. This artificially restricts the supply of taxis. This licencing system should be abolished. 36 out of 43 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Andy38 Andy38 |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Feb 28 2008, 6:36 AM EST No joke mate, though it goes wider than taxis I'd say most licensing and regulation is for the benefit of existing industry players. 8 out of 11 found this valuable. Do you? |
 dra_red |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Mar 19 2008, 11:13 PM EDT Sometimes regulation is needed. If there were an unlimited number of cabs then the prices would be driven down. It would be harder for cabbies to make a buck and then problems arise as cabbies go to all sorts of lengths to get a fair. ie dangerous driving, threatening other cabbies etc. I agree with Andy that regulation is often misused and that should receive some focus. However, with cabs, I think it would take careful consideration of all aspects of the industry before it could be determined if licences could be abolished. The same is true of other licensed industries, the fisheries for example. Cheers, Dale 2 out of 6 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Mar 30 2008, 4:59 AM EDT If these fees were abolished then I would certainly hope the supply of taxis would increase and prices would fall. It is nearly impossible to get a taxi in Perth without phoning ahead, and that rarely helps. Falling prices would mean that the least efficient taxi drivers may have to leave the industry. But taxi drivers would only enter the industry so long as it was profitable. Reducing regulation would allow the price mechanism to work its magic until the optimal balance is found. The only regulation necessary is to ensure that taxi drivers know how to drive and don't wish to harm anybody. Regulation is usually for the benefit of incumbent workers. The loud minority campaign for large benefits for themselves at the expense of the public at large. 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Mar 30 2008, 5:10 AM EDT Anon, you say that taxi drivers would only enter the industy if it was profitable but how would they know until they entered the industry. Anyone who did enter the industry would have to set up their car and spend 3 to 6 months learning the ropes before they really knew if they could make a go of it and then their career is forever uncertain because 3 months down the track there could be a big heap of contenders enter the field, force the best drivers out and then the new guys could exit realising it was not worth it afterall at which time taxi service plumets. What I am trying to get across is that without regulation the industry would become chaotic with no sure certainity. Deregulation only seems beneficial at a superficial level. Cheers, Dale 1 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Apr 7 2008, 2:30 AM EDT dra_red wrote: "Anyone who did enter the industry would have to set up their car and spend 3 to 6 months learning the ropes before they really knew if they could make a go of it and then their career is forever uncertain because 3 months down the track there could be a big heap of contenders enter the field" dra_red - so it'd be just like any other business then? Deregulated industries seem to work ok for everything else. 2 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Apr 8 2008, 7:44 AM EDT Anon, it is a valid point but I have no doubt that if we look into the history of regulation in the cab industry that we would find good reasons why they were introduced. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the safety aspects ie cabs trying to intimidate and race to get fares. My own take on that would be that the laws should be in place to reduce this behaviour rather than trying a carpet regulation. On the other hand, I also think that the principles of capitalism do not lead to optimum results and this needs to be discussed further. Cheers, Dale 1 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
Apr 20 2008, 12:43 AM EDT The fee is utterly ridiculous. It should be abolished. Licensing was introduced with some good reasons but the fee has long since outgrown the original intent. It is perverse. It makes taxis more expensive for customers and less profitable for drivers. 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
May 7 2008, 5:48 PM EDT The majority of license owners don't drive cabs. They uses migrants from the sub-continent to do the driving. From the earnings of a cab, 50% goes to the driver and 50% to the cab (license) owner. 0 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
May 8 2008, 7:48 AM EDT Is that a bad thing? Cheers, Dale 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
 Sympneology |
RE: Abolish $300000 licence fees for operating a taxi
May 9 2008, 2:12 PM EDT "The majority of license owners don't drive cabs. They uses migrants from the sub-continent to do the driving. From the earnings of a cab, 50% goes to the driver and 50% to the cab (license) owner."Where do you get your statistics? As far as I know, as a cab driver for 20 years, is that, while the majority of drivers are not licenced operators, there are plenty of owners who do drive, even if it is only a few shifts a week. The standard method of dividing the income (in NSW at least) is that the driver pays the operator an industry-determined pay-in per shift and the rest, after costs of fuel, tolls, uniforms, etc., is his income, on which he pays tax and GST. This applies to all regardless of the place of origin of the driver or the licencee. The high cost of the operator's licence is designed to ensure that the operator is one who takes his responsibilities seriously, as they are very heavy responsibilities. They include, for example, regular maintenance to ensure that the vehicles are in a roadworthy condition, ensuring that his drivers are capable and properly qualified, maintaining a roster of drivers to work every shift, being available 24 hours a day in case of a breakdown or accident, arranging temporary replacements for drivers off sick or on leave, and all the book-keeping and records required by law. Without that big investment in the licence many operators would be tempted to cut corners and endanger the lives of drivers, customers or the public. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |