A move by a private hire car company to offer cheaper fares was blocked after it was denied permission to adjust its meters.

Edinburgh City Private Hire had asked the council permission to reduce the tariff on the meters by 30 percent.

The decision has been postponed following objections from the city’s black cab firms until it can be discussed by the Hire Car Consultation Group.

City Cabs and Central Taxis are opposed to the change, claiming that it could lead to vast problems for the industry if private hire cars offer a competitive advantage.

Edinburgh City Private Hire director, Kevin Woodburn was frustrated by the move, saying that the council was “making it impossible” to offer customers a discount.  Mr Woodburn said the company was seeking legal advice as to whether the council has the right to prevent it from altering the meters.

“We wanted to bring in a change to the meter so that our customers could see the discount,” he said. “Our drivers can already work out a discount, but this is time- consuming and open to problems.

“I am really concerned that the council has not allowed us to do this so it can refer the matter to the public hire companies, as it has nothing to do with them.”

Chairman of Central Taxis, Bill Purnell, insisted that his company nor city cabs had any problems with the company offering lower fairs, but said there were wider implications and that other options are available.

“We are not objecting to discounted fares,” he said. “What we are concerned about is altering the meter fare. Customers are used to meters and they trust them, but if these changes are brought in it will allow different fares to be set on meters by different private hire drivers, so you could have 400 different fares.

“That could lead to confusion and so there would be less trust in the meters. My concern is that people on a Friday or Saturday night who get charged different fares could become agitated.”

Thanks to the Scotsman.com.  For more information on this article visit their website.