A Dublin man has revealed taxi drivers are switching off their apps at night due to the rising costs of doing business with FREE NOW.
The taxi situation in the capital was described as a "shambles" after many people were forced to walk long distances home over the weekend.
Taxi driver James Cullen told Dublin Live: "FREE NOW says that x amount of trips are going through the system and the drivers are not covering. One of the reasons why is because it's too expensive."
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James, who has been a taxi driver for nearly 30 years, explained that drivers are hit with a variety of extra fees every time they use the app to pick up a customer.
He said that FREE NOW charges 15% commission on every job plus they have brought in a "hospitality charge" which takes an extra €2 from the drivers when they pick someone up from a hotel and some bars and restaurants.
He said: "For example, I brought a couple from a hotel in Cardiff Lane to Connolly Station.
"The fare was around €8.80. I lost €2 out of that job so we’re down to €6.80, then I had to pay a 15% commission on top of that. So we’re down to about €5.50.
"And then they handed me a credit card which added a charge separate from the ones put in place by the app. So then I got hit again. For an €8.80 fare, I basically ended up getting a fiver."
Last weekend saw a number social media users saying they felt unsafe in the city due to the lack of taxi drivers at night.
James said: "I don’t like to see anybody walking on the side of the road. We don’t like to see anybody being vulnerable.
"But we're getting blamed for something that is not our fault. The gardai should be making sure the city is safe for vulnerable people.
"Also, Dublin Bus are putting up more routes so I can’t blame Dublin Bus. But Luas and DART need to start putting on extra services because by doing that it takes the pressure off us and it gets the people home safely."
The pandemic resulted in nearly 40% of drivers leaving the industry, James said.
He added: "The average age of a taxi driver would be between 64 and 67. So a lot of them would be ex-guards, ex- soldiers. They’ve got two pensions so they realised they could survive on them so they left the industry.
"A lot of the foreign lads have either gone back home or gone into trades like construction. There’s nobody new coming into the business.
"Plus the expensive insurance fees mean a lot of people are not coming into the business because taxi insurance has always been expensive but it’s exorbitant for new entries and if you’re a foreign driver it’s even more."
Niall Carson, General Manager for FREE NOW said: "We have always offered incentives around completing peak time jobs, removing commission is not the answer to the current taxi and transport issue.
"Our commission charge is essential to the continued provision and improvement of our app which many drivers and passengers use and rely upon for flexible transport.
"This is not just a taxi shortage issue. This is a transport shortage issue that needs to be addressed by the transport sector as a whole, in a proactive and integrated manner. This will in turn help alleviate the pressure currently placed on the taxi sector to cater to the enormous need of passengers at peak times."
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