Department Dislikes Taxi Licensing System

Press, Volume C, Issue 29608, 2 September 1961, Page 13

Department Dislikes Taxi Licensing System

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Sept. 1

The Transport Department is not satisfied that the present system of licensing is adequate to supply sufficient taxis to meet the demand and provide the standard of service the public is reasonably entitled to expect. The department said this in submissions made by its commercial transport officer (Mr L. H. Atkinson) to the committee of inquiry into taxicab and rental vehicle services in New Zealand when the committee opened its inquiry in Wellington today. The committee has been set up by the Government. It is Mr C. H. Benney (chairman), Mr W. B. Baird and Brigadier R. S. Park. The Transport Department’s submission said that the taxi industry’s request to permit multiple hiring, actual unlawful multiple hiring, double shifting of cabs, double ownership of one cab and the operation of two .cabs on one cab authority wvere evidence that the present services, were inadequate to cope with the normal busy periods. The department’s main recommendations, which involve major alterations to the licensing and hiring of taxis, are:—

Where an application for a new licence is being considered, anyone objecting to the issue if the licence should have to prove that the present service is satisfactory. This shifts the onus of proof of the need for more cabs from the applicant, as at present, to the objector. Licensing authorities be empowered to exercise effective control over taxi companies which have radio-telephone system to ensure that they operate effective roster systems and maintain an adequate supply of taxis at all times of the day. No taxi licence holder be refused entry to a taxi organisation without the prior written permission of the appropriate licensing authority. All new taxi licences be made non-transferable. A waybill be kept for each taxi showing daily and trip mileages, number of passengers, fares charged and hours worked to provide information necessary for fixing fares. Provision be made in the regulations for multiple hiring in a restricted form. At present a multiple hiring, even with the consent of the first hirer, is against ‘the law.

The department said in its submission: “Restrictions imposed by the State and controls by way of licensing should be invoked only if the public interest in the widest sense demands such intervention, and the desirable end result cannot be achieved otherwise. “An unfortunate' result of the licensing of an industry is the ease with which, once imposed, licensing becomes accepted and perpetuated, unless periodically it is subjected to a careful scrutiny. “In the case of the taxicab industry, the degree of control necessary should be carefully measured in relation to the objectives of licensing—the public welfare and the public economy.'’ The department said that the demand for licences and the high “goodwill” paid for licences demonstrated that the taxicab industry was prosperous and regarded as a desirable occupation. The radio-telephone had brought about a marked change in the industry, and the increase in the standard of living since the Second World War had greatly increased the demand for taxis. War Hangover The department added: "At many times, this demand exceeds the supply of cabs, resulting in multiple hiring, a practice which, while not lawful, is Widespread and is a hangover from the war years. The department said it was satisfied that in some centres of population the present taxi services were inadequate and that the legitimate public demand for taxi services was not being met. “It is common knowledge that the existing taxicab services, at least in some of the larger towns and cities, are inadequate to cope with the normal busy periods,” the department said.