Private Hire Fares Calculator

[lyndylou]

Hi - I know a man who is setting up his own prestige private car hire company - He has taken his knowledge and has looked at the kind of cars he will need - however we have come a blank when trying to set his charges. We know there is a general taxi fare calculator but since he is planning on private hire for the top end customer we can't begin to find out how much to charge and that's obviously detrimental to our business plan. Is there anything like the taxi fare calculator that we can look at
Thank you

[Zacs-Master]

Have you tried phoning other comparable companies and asking how much they charge?

[SirOracle]

If your friend is going to operate in a properly regulated area then he must adhere to the fare tariff of the area.
He can cut this but cannot charge a higher tafiff.
Is he putting his car into a private hire company? If so then they will supply him with details of fares to charge.

[lyndylou]

Thank you both - to answer the q's no the cars ( two brothers ) will be the only ones in their own company they will be doing private hire only ( airport runs etc )
WE have thought about ringing around but thought they should be a calculator
SirOricle that is very interesting that you say they will need to stick to the tariff for the area ??? they will be going country wide, they are trying to find out the tariff? and strange how undercutting is allowed but calculating your own higher fares is not ? You must know a lot about the taxi and private hire business - DO TELL !!

[Buenchico]

>>>He can cut this but cannot charge a higher tariff

Rubbish. Private hire companies are free to charge what they like. There is no 'approved tariff' for private hire vehicles. Any licensing authority attempting to impose one would be acting outside of their powers.

Many private hire firms around here have a simple charging scheme, such as "£2 per mile, subject to a minimum fare of £3 from the office or £5 from elsewhere".

[SirOracle]

I take exception Buenchito to referring to my answer as rubbish.
To try to throw some further light on this rather complex subject I will try to give you some hard facts.

Firstly in a properly regulated area if a taximeter is fitted to the vehicle then it MUST be used for any journey commencing and terminating within that area.
If no meter fitted then it is fare by agreement PRIOR to the commencement of the hire.
I don't know where this business is located, but I presume there is some form of control,as you said that your friend has passed a topographical test. This test is not normally required for a private hire licence,only being a necessity for a taxi.
The best thing that your friend could do is to contact whoever has issued this licence and see what terms and conditions apply locally.
I can assure you that despite a previous poster 's remarks Local Authorities do set fares for PHC cars working in their area,as described above.
Yes Company Secretary for

[SirOracle]

Sorry something happened at the end of my posting.

Should read , Yes ,Company Secretary of a public hire company with 450 taxis.