A council will look into a temporary restriction on issuing hackney carriage licences that it has had in place for more than 10 years. Cardiff Council's public protection committee voted to launch a consultation over the possible removal of the authority's moratorium on issuing new hackney carriage licences.
Cardiff Council is the only local authority in Wales, and one of a few in the UK, to have such a moratorium in place. The council's licensing department has received a number of complaints from passengers who have been unable to get hackney carriages.
It has also seen an increase in reports of hackney carriage drivers cherry-picking and refusing short fares. There is also the issue of the current moratorium, which has been in place at Cardiff Council since 2010, restricting new entrants into the hackney carriage trade unless they are able to purchase a hackney carriage vehicle already licensed in Cardiff and transfer it into their name.
