Taxi fares around Huddersfield won’t be hiked over fears that struggling customers will turn away from expensive fares, putting cabbies out of business.

With the cost of living crisis raging, Kirklees councillors have decided not to put standard fares up so taxi firms don’t suffer as swathes of customers instead opt for cheaper transport. One driver even warned of “many losing their jobs”.

Kirklees Licensing and Safety Committee met on Wednesday morning to discuss the possibility of a further increase to hackney carriage fares. However, this was decided against amidst fears that an increase in pricing would force customers to turn to other methods of transport leaving drivers with dwindling businesses.

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Fares were increased following a request from trade representatives for the hackney carriage association earlier this year. This saw a temporary £1 increase placed on the start price of journeys and the start time of two more costly tariffs brought forward to 8pm rather than 10 pm. That temporary increase will now remain, but there will not be a further hike in prices.

At today’s meeting, Huddersfield taxi driver Suhail Rashid spoke in support of maintaining the current fare structure describing how upping the prices even further would “result in a loss of trade,” and “many losing their jobs.”

The driver, who is also a representative for the Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association for Huddersfield, went on to say, “The current fare structure has been working well over the last few months which is fair and reasonable for the trade and customers.

“We strongly believe that the proposed fare increase cannot be justified at present and should not be implemented.

“We have to be careful not to price ourselves out of the competitive market.”

The £2 bus fare cap and the flexibility of privately licensed vehicles were just two of the threats identified to the appeal of taxis as a means of transport with councillors and drivers alike sharing in these concerns.

Taking this into account, a unanimous decision was reached and it was agreed that the once temporary measure of a £1 increase to fares will remain in place indefinitely. Additionally, the matter of taxi fares will be up for discussion yearly.

Councillors also discussed the controversial “suitability” policy, which could see taxi drivers subject to sanctions if they accumulate more than seven penalty points. This issue is set to be investigated for a further three months before a decision can be made.

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