Melbourne faces the prospect of a sudden shortage of wheelchair-accessible taxis in coming days because the government has threatened to cancel the licences of operators who have not paid their annual fees.
The operators – many of whom are in arrears on an annual licence fee that has risen to more than $28,000 – say the income generated from driving a wheelchair-accessible taxi is simply far too low for them to meet their payments.
The Taxi Services Commission has issued operators with warning letters, noting that the annual fee is overdue and threatening suspension or cancellation of the licence to operate a taxi if it is not paid promptly. If suspended, their vehicles will be removed from service, reducing the number of wheelchair taxis on the roads.
Wheelchair-accessible taxi operator Testi Mohamed is one of two operators who have already had their licence cancelled. Mr Mohamed declined to comment, but confirmed his wheelchair-accessible taxi was sitting idle at his home.
Operator Sisay Tsegaw, who has been warned his licence will be stripped within the next two weeks, said many driver-operators were earning less than half the income they were told a wheelchair-accessible taxi licence would generate when they purchased them from the government in 2010.
Many operators were in a state of financial hardship, earning less than the minimum wage, with annual operating costs of about $87,000, he said. Currently, 126 licence holders are on payment plans.
Mr Tsegaw said by putting operators out of business, the government was also creating a crisis for disabled taxi users.
”We are sincere in wanting to serve the disabled and elderly community of Melbourne,” he said. ”To achieve this objective, however, an immediate and tangible solution is needed.”
The former Brumby government released 330 new wheelchair-accessible taxi licences in 2010, claiming it would improve poor service standards for people with disabilities. The licence holders have since paid an annual fee to the government, however that process is due to be overhauled.
The Napthine government has committed to a recommendation from Allan Fels’ taxi industry inquiry to shift all wheelchair taxi licence holders onto a lower, $18,400 annual fee by the middle of next year. But in the meantime it expects them to meet the terms of their original contracts.
Victorian Taxi Association spokeswoman Georgia Nicholls said operators had paid too much from the beginning and the government was taking a short-sighted approach that would hurt people with disabilities.
”If operators are on the brink, why force them out of business when the industry is building up towards the busiest time of the year?” Ms Nicholls said.
Disability groups were vocal during the taxi industry inquiry and enthusiastically endorsed its recommendations. The inquiry found the standard of wheelchair taxi services was unacceptably poor, with 80 per cent of drivers mostly taking conventional fares and many basing themselves at Melbourne Airport.
