A wheelchair user who was claims he was denied an accessible taxi by three different private companies and several hackney carriage drivers has said that Cardiff’s taxis will do “anything they can to refuse a wheelchair.”
Glyn Jones was visiting his friends in Grangetown for lunch on Sunday, April 17 and needed to get a taxi home by 10pm in time for his carers’ visit. Mr Jones has multiple sclerosis and needs his carers’ help to get into bed. He requires a wheelchair-friendly taxi as he cannot transfer in and out of his motorised wheelchair.
But he said after ringing three private hire taxi companies at 8:30pm he was told that he could not book a wheelchair-friendly taxi, and it was unlikely that any would become available that evening. He said: “When I was on the phone to Dragon Taxis I asked how they were able to operate with no wheelchair taxis available. Wasn’t it against their licensing conditions?
“The woman told me no, there were no licensing conditions because their drivers are all self-employed.” Cardiff Council is responsible for licensing hackney carriages (taxis that can be hailed from the street) and private hire cars (which have to be pre-booked).
Mr Jones said that he has also been turned away for the same reason by hackney carriages. He said: “This goes into the problem with Cardiff taxis full-stop. They will do anything they can to refuse a wheelchair. I think taxi drivers look at me and think: ‘He’s in a wheelchair, he’ll only want to go around the corner, that’s not worth the trouble’ – particularly on a bank holiday weekend, when everyone’s out and about.
"Even when the taxis are equipped for wheelchairs you get the common excuse of ‘I have stuff stored in the back’ or ‘the ramp isn’t working’ – then you shouldn’t be on duty.”
After failing to find a private hire cab, Mr Jones’ friends went to several taxi ranks but said they couldn’t find a driver of a wheelchair-friendly taxi who would leave the rank to pick him up from the Grangetown flat. After failing to find a taxi to pick him up, Mr Jones said: “I had to message the carers to say I would be late and ask them to wait for me to get back before they left. Then we decided the only way to do it was to leave my friends’ house and trudge down to Mermaid Quay for me to pick up a taxi off the rank in my wheelchair, if there was one available.”
Mr Jones eventually found a wheelchair-friendly Dragon Taxis car, despite being told over the phone that none were available. He said: “I got home late and fortunately the carers were still there.
“But it makes me feel really f**ing s*it to be honest with you. To be about to turn around and say: ‘No, we have no taxis for people like you’ – regardless of what the ‘you’ is, skin colour, gender or anything – it's discrimination and it sucks.”
Private hire vehicles can legally refuse a fare and can only carry drivers on pre-booked journeys, the council’s Licensing team will investigate complaints about hackney carriage drivers who refuse a fare without reasonable excuse (which is an offence), or private hire drivers or vehicles which do not meet your expectations.
But Mr Jones said, having tried to make an appeal before: “I’ve given up complaining to the council because the problem is so onerous.”
“Myself, my friend and her husband would need to make a statement to the Licensing Committee. They only meet once a week, for one morning. You’re told to arrive at 9am on Tuesday and you’re in the queue waiting for stuff to be done. I’ve been there before when I’m still waiting at 2pm.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “The Council recognise the frustration for any member of the public who is unable to hire a vehicle adapted to their needs. It would, however, be unfair to comment on allegations against particular drivers or individual private hire operators without an opportunity to speak to the complainant and investigate the facts further.
“It is the case that there is a national shortage of taxi and private hire drivers due to drivers choosing not to return to the trade following the Covid-19 pandemic. The Licensed Private Hire Car Association (LPHCA) estimates the industry is short of 160,000 of the previously 300,000-strong workforce.”
The council spokesperson added: “In relation to Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV’s), all Hackney Carriage Vehicles (as opposed to private hire vehicles) on licence plate number 401 and above issued in Cardiff are wheelchair accessible. Cardiff will have a higher proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles in their licensed fleet than most others in Wales, so it would be unfair to highlight issues in Cardiff without referencing the picture in Wales as a whole.
“There is no similar power available to the Council to mandate WAV in relation to private hire vehicles, this would require new legislation to be introduced, which is outside of the Council control.”
To claims about the complaints procedure, a council spokesperson said: "In order to investigate a complaint and successfully prosecute a taxi driver for an offence, the Council must the follow the rules and codes of practice required by any criminal investigation. This will include taking statements from complainants which can be used in evidence. Whilst it is helpful for complainants to provide a general description of the driver, we will investigate a complaint with only a vehicle registration or plate number.
“In relation to drivers reported to the Public Protection Sub Committee, the Sub-Committee meet once a month to consider the fitness and propriety of drivers that have been involved in alleged wrongdoing. Each disciplinary meeting is given an allotted time slot and attendees are asked to attend at this time. There may be times where cases overrun but witnesses are generally not waiting longer than an hour. All witnesses are also given the option of attending the meeting remotely via Microsoft Teams so there is no requirement to attend in person for disciplinary matters.”
The spokesperson also pointed out: “We carry out mystery shopper investigations specifically targeting drivers that refuse fares. For instance, we recently carried out a mystery shopper investigation with assistance from members of the public who were registered blind, tackling the issue of drivers refusing to accept guide dogs.”
Capital Cabs, Premier Taxis and Veezu, the company that operates Dragon Taxis, have been approached for comment but have not offered a response.
