Taxi drivers are worried that the cost of installing mandatory CCTV cameras in their cabs and PHVs will force them out of the trade.
Drivers in Peterborough are unhappy after Peterborough City Council ruled that CCTV will be mandatory in both Hackney cabs and private hire taxis across the city.
The BBC reports that concern over public safety is behind the CCTV drive. A report to the council licensing committee said: “There is evidence to support the view that taxis and private hire vehicles are a high-risk environment.”
Officials added that cameras are being made compulsory “for public safety, which includes both drivers and passengers”. The city’s 100 operators and 1,800 taxi drivers have 12 to 18 months to install the cameras.
The green light for the scheme followed a consultation which received more than 600 responses.
The BBC reports that those who welcome the proposal included passengers who said they felt “vulnerable” in a taxi.
Cost
But with the price of approved CCTV systems ranging from £400 to £800 and installation up to £200 more, the main concerns raised by taxi drivers were that the costs of installing CCTV would be “unaffordable” and that it could “undermine client confidentiality”, adding that the cost could force many out of the trade.
Peterborough Taxi Hire Federation representative Ali Haider told the BBC the move was “intrusive of privacy” and “a financial burden”.
Mr Haider said the federation, which represents both Hackney and PHV drivers, believed there were already “strict measures” in place to ensure passenger safety, including tracking systems which provide passengers with driver details, as well as enhanced driver checks and medical and immigration checks.
He added that local Peterborough-licensed drivers would be at a disadvantage to out-of-city drivers who don’t have to abide by the same licensing laws.
He said: “We have drivers who fall under Lincolnshire, Rutland and Wolverhampton authorities operating here who don’t have to follow this rule. It’s an unfair advantage to them.
“I am afraid more Peterborough drivers, including myself, will have to leave and work for other authorities.”
Priorities
Concerning driver safety, Mr Haider said the issues drivers faced were “verbal abuse and theft”, and said he didn’t think CCTV would be a deterrent.
Instead, he said upfront payments and better-prepared drivers would make the trade safer. He said: “The CCTV won’t prevent that. Instead, we need better driver training and a pre-paid fare payment,” he said.
The costs to purchase, install and maintain the CCTV equipment would fall to the vehicle proprietor. Drivers who already have CCTV systems installed in licensed vehicles would need to ensure they meet the council’s specifications, or they must be upgraded to the required standard.
Once CCTV is installed, drivers must ensure that it is always operational whenever they are on duty. This includes waiting on a rank, collecting a fare and returning from a drop off, even if there are no passengers are in the vehicle.
This means that drivers “cannot undertake any fare-paying journeys without CCTV operating, even if the passenger requests or insists that it is switched off, unless there is an extreme medical emergency.
“The driver will be able to switch off the CCTV when the vehicle is ‘off duty’ and being used solely for social and domestic purposes – i.e. not being used for paying passengers.”
