Member Article

London's black cabs to accept contactless payments as row with Uber continues

The capital’s famous black cab drivers are making a move to modernise the way they take payments as the rivalry with Uber heats up.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Transport for London (TfL) confirmed they will take forward proposals requiring all London taxis to accept card payments, including contactless, from October 2016.

TfL has assured cabbies and customers that it has negotiated with the credit card industry to bring down the cost for drivers of accepting card payments, reducing transaction fees paid by cabbies from up to 10 per cent to three per cent or less of the transaction.

Under the plans customers will also not pay any surcharge on their fare. Instead, taxi drivers will recoup their transaction costs through a proposed 20p increase on the basic fare.

If approved by the TfL Board in February as part of the annual taxi fares revision, the fare change will come into force in April next year and all cabbies will need to accept card payments from October 2016.

A rivalry between the city’s black cab drivers and those working for Uber, the taxi app service, has emerged as TfL has struggled to lay down regulations regarding hailing - which is currently against the law for non-black cab drivers. The transport operator has unveiled plans to force Uber drivers, and other taxi apps, to introduce a ‘five minute delay to any pick-ups in the city.’

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: `This is great news for the millions of people who use London’s world famous black cabs. This move will boost business for cabbies and bring the trade into the 21st century by enabling quicker and more convenient journeys for customers.’

Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer for Surface Transport, said: `This is a very positive change for taxi drivers and for our customers. London is increasingly a cashless city, with people using cards to pay for all aspects of their daily life - including transport.

“We are seeing more and more people use contactless payments on our network, and mandating card payments in taxis will mean customers no longer have to consider how they might pay for a journey before getting into a taxi. It will also benefit drivers, who will see their services opened up to potential new business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .