Deregulation of taxi industry likely: Minister

Press, 28 August 1986, Page 15

Deregulation of taxi industry likely: Minister

PA Tauranga Deregulation of the taxi industry is likely within five years, says the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble. In an address to the Taxi Proprietors' Federation conference in Tauranga yesterday, Mr Prebble said there were no immediate plans to deregulate the industry.

But it could not be sheltered from the need to change. “If I may put it this way, I would be extremely surprised if in five years time significant liberalisation has not occurred,” he said.

Changing the way the industry worked would benefit the industry and the travelling public, he said. Problems in the industry needed a wide-ranging approach, and he cautioned not to simply finetune or “tinker” with the present system.

“It may be that the Government could sponsor a forum on the future of the taxi industry, inviting taxi owners, the federation, local bodies, users, and the Ministry of Transport,” he said. “It is time to put the real facts on the table and together seek real solutions.”