DESPERATE taxi drivers are pleading for council bosses to permanently increase fares to ensure the industry “can survive” in Basildon. 

During a meeting on Tuesday night, the Basildon Hackney Carriage Association lodged a request with Basildon Council to see the fees increased after the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc on the taxi industry. 

The proposed tariff card would see a new start rate of £3.40 - a 20p increase - for vehicles carrying up to four passengers.

The new start rate for vehicles carrying five to eight passengers would rise to £5.10 - a 30p increase.

It is also proposed that evening rates should start at 8pm instead of 9pm.

The meeting heard how the trade has “experienced a number of impacts arising out of the Covid pandemic” and well as a “rise in fuel prices”,

The report added: “This includes longer-term behaviour changes as a result of more people continuing to work from home, and this continues to have an effect.

“The competition for drivers across the transport industry also provided an attractive alternative for licensed drivers with some not returning to the trade.

“It is appropriate that actions that can incentivise drivers to continue to drive hackney carriage vehicles be considered, particularly if these are more likely in relation to late night journeys where passenger safety is even more vulnerable due to the reduced driver numbers.”

Basildon Council regulates the maximums fares for the hire of Hackney carriages and a legal procedure has to be followed before a new tariff can be introduced.

The National Hackney Fares Table June 2023 shows that the national average two-mile Hackney Fare Tariff One is now £7.12.

Basildon is currently £6.40, and the proposed fare increase would raise the two-mile journey by 60p to £7.00 - just below the national average.

Tony Hedley, councillor responsible for business engagement, skills and procurement oversight, said: “I will be supporting this because I think it is a modest increase and having listened to the representative of the trade, I think he has articulated the conditions that taxi drivers find themselves in.

“The situation is if we don’t provide the service at a reasonable cost, the service will shrink, and everybody will be a loser. I think they are very modest increases.”