Cabbies in the Highland capital fear they are being driven out of business amid a row over fares rises and a “free-for-all” they claim is costing them trade.
They say a tariffs increase offered by the local authority is “insulting” and have called for urgent action to protect their livelihoods.
Highland Council’s licensing committee is due to debate proposals for a new fares structure next month.
But members of the Inverness Taxi Alliance fear the worst after their plea to be allowed to make their case to elected members before the August 11 meeting was rejected.
They want tariffs increased – or a cap imposed on the ever-increasing number of operators from outwith the Highland capital being allowed to work in the city.
The local authority no longer has separate district taxi zones, meaning it is a free-for-all across the north, with some drivers coming from as far away as Caithness to ply for trade in Inverness on lucrative weekends.
Earlier this year the licensing committee agreed to offer the drivers a 20p increase, giving a minimum tariff of £2.70, but drivers had requested a starting rate of £3.
The £2.70 fare on offer is also 10p lower than what was tabled last year, when an effort to fix new rates ended in debacle
A rise of 30p was approved in April 2014, but was appealed by driver Andrew MacDonald, chairman of Inverness Taxi Alliance, who was supported by 160 other taxi operators who wanted an increase of 50p.
Scotland’s traffic commissioner Richard McFarlane discovered the local authority had not carried out a full consultation with all drivers in the Highlands and the entire process had to start again.
Mr MacDonald said yesterday the council offer was “insulting and patronising” and he was concerned that the drivers’ request for a meeting before August 11 had been turned down.
He also wanted to raise with councillors the “wildly oversubscribed” private hire car sector, in which drivers are not required to go through the thorough “knowledge” tests which full taxi drivers operate.
Mr MacDonald said: “It’s a ridiculous situation we are in where the largest authority in the country does not do zoning.
“There are the other issues with the private hire cars who don’t do the same training and who often rely on sat nav or their own passengers to get them where they are going.
“It’s damaging to the whole trade and nobody is winning out of this.”
Council officials had initially suggested a higher basic tariff, but this was overruled by councillors on the committee.
Now the taxi alliance plans to write to all members of Highland Council about tariff structures in the run-up to next month’s meeting.
Councillor Maxine Smith, who was chairwoman of the licensing committee when the revised tariffs were put out to consultation this year, said last night she “broadly agreed” with the taxi alliance’s position, but she said she could understand why demands for a meeting prior to August 11 had been turned down.
Ms Smith, who still sits on the committee, said: “There was a sub-committee meeting a few months ago so there is no need for one to be brought forward now.
“In the interest of fairness if we offered the Inverness drivers that opportunity we’d have to go to everybody interested in the consultation and that would be extremely time consuming.”
She agreed that the number of private hire car operators would have to be brought under control.
She said: “We’ve explained to them before that we can’t introduce zoning and we can’t cap numbers without taking considerable time and expense.
“I do think we need to look at private hire cars and that could be a way of controlling numbers. I plan to raise that at the meeting.”
New licensing chairman, Councillor Ian Cockburn, said that he had not directly received any requests from the Inverness alliance for a meeting.
However, he added: “I would be happy to discuss any concerns with them.”