Fees for licensing and registering taxis on the island look set to rise by more than 22%, but fare tariffs for passengers are remaining the same.

Taxi drivers voted against the rise in taxi fare tariffs.

The local taxi union, Isle of Man Unite taxi branch, has also accepted that members’ licensing and registering fees are increasing significantly.

The fees haven’t been updated since early 2017 and the Road Transport Licensing Committee (RTLC) has said the rise is in line with the rate of inflation since the figures were last set six years ago.

It is set to be discussed in Tynwald next week.

If approved by Tynwald it will affect all public passenger vehicles, and would come into effect on August 1.

Goods vehicles and public passenger vehicle operator licence renewal will increase from £35 to £86 to match the fee for a new licence, as both renewal and initial issuing of a licence involve the same amount of administrative time.

Public passenger vehicle service licence renewal will increase from £35 to £41.

Mike Birchall, secretary of the Isle of Man Unite taxi branch, said: ‘We were not against the RTLC rise [in fees for licensing and registering]. They consulted us and we put it to our members explaining they haven’t risen for six years and it does relate to the rate of inflation.

‘But the majority of our members voted against the rise in taxi tariffs because we want to encourage people into taxis and we realise that there is a cost of living crisis at the moment and we didn’t want to put the fares up and discourage people.

good news

‘It’s good news for members of the public as this year fares will stay the same.’

Noel Capewell, secretary of the Road Transport Licensing Committee, believes the 22% rise seems bigger because it hasn’t been increased in six years.

He added: ‘The process started probably over a year ago and at the time I consulted with the Isle of Man Unite taxi union just to get their thoughts about it, and whilst they weren’t jumping up with joy, they accepted it because there hadn’t been a fee increase at that point for five years.

‘It’s important to distinguish between the taxi tariff and the fees.

‘The tariff is not changing, the taxi consumer will not suddenly see an increase in the tariffs next month because the maximum is there.

‘We consult with the taxi trade every year about the tariff and they are very conscious of the taxi using public and this year when we consulted them even though the taxi trade knew a fee increase was coming, they decided it would be in there best interest not to increase the tariff because the last thing they want is for there to be nobody wanting to use the taxis.

‘January or February next year we will consult with the taxi trade about whether the tariff should go up or not, and that will be a conversation for then.’