Fares of pedicabs in London will be regulated under a new licensing system announced in the King’s Speech.
A Pedicabs (London) Bill will allow Transport for London to set standards for operators, drivers and their vehicles, ensure drivers undergo criminal record and right-to-work in the UK checks, enable rogue drivers to be taken to court or fined, and force pedicabs to move if they are an obstruction.
The crackdown on the three-wheel vehicles was first announced by The Standard on Monday.
The bill highlighted that there are between 200 to 900 pedicabs in the capital.
The new licensing system will close an archaic legislative loophole which allowed rogue drivers to fleece tourists and other people in the capital with fares running into the hundreds of pounds.
James Watkins, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s head of policy and public impact, said: “For too long rogue pedicab operators have played fast and loose with the law.
“Too many visitors to our city have been fleeced and intimidated - which has harmed London’s global reputation.”
The Hippodrome’s executive chairman Simon Thomas added: “You can hear the cheering throughout the West End.
“Hopefully this will see an end to...overcharging by pedicabs and bring a new era of vehicle safety and driver checks, and an end to pavement obstruction.”
Dee Corsi, chief executive of the New West End Company, said: “The new regulation for pedicabs will be welcomed by businesses and members of the public alike. The licensing system, which has been fought hard for by Westminster City Council and Nickie Aiken MP, will have an immediate, positive impact for the West End, which did not previously have the power to regulate the vehicles directly.”
Ms Aiken, Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, campaigned for four years for the licensing system.
Pedicabs have not been regulated due to the loophole in the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 which meant their operators are not classified as stage carriages.
This meant that there is no requirement for insurance, no requirement for fares to be fixed or consistent, and no requirement for vehicles or drivers to be quality assessed.
Ms Aiken told The Standard: “It is so important that we regulate pedicabs to make them safe to use.
“Currently we do not know if the vehicles are safe to be on the road, that the drivers are safe to take passengers, there is no regulation of fares which means time and time again tourists and visitors to London are ripped off, often by hundreds of pounds."
