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RESOLVED – That: The following conditions be added to the hackney carriage conditions of licence: - All hackney carriages must have an electronic payment device to accept debit/credit card and contactless payments. As a minimum, Visa and MasterCard must be accepted; - The electronic payment device must be kept in the vehicle, be fully operational and available for immediate use at all times the vehicle is being used for hire and reward (including whilst standing or plying for hire); - All hackney carriages must display prominent signage to prospective passengers that states card and contactless card payments are accepted; - No additional costs as a result of card payments may be passed onto the passenger; The proposal be implemented on 1st September 2024.
RESOLVED – That: The application be approved.
Apologies were received from Cllr Ferguson-Thorne.
There were none.
The minutes of the meeting held on 25th October 2023 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and were signed by the Chair.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED – That: The following conditions be added to the hackney carriage conditions of licence: - All hackney carriages must have an electronic payment device to accept debit/credit card and contactless payments. As a minimum, Visa and MasterCard must be accepted; - The electronic payment device must be kept in the vehicle, be fully operational and available for immediate use at all times the vehicle is being used for hire and reward (including whilst standing or plying for hire); - All hackney carriages must display prominent signage to prospective passengers that states card and contactless card payments are accepted; - No additional costs as a result of card payments may be passed onto the passenger; The proposal be implemented on 1st September 2024.
The Committee received a report on proposals to introduce mandatory card payment facilities in hackney carriages (taxis). The Chair requested Dan Cook, Licensing Officer, to present the report. Members were advised that at its meeting on 7th December 2022, the Public Protection Committee authorised the Licensing Department to carry out a consultation exercise, seeking the views of the trade and the public on a proposal to mandate all hackney carriages licensed by Cardiff Council to accept card payments. The purpose of this report was to update members on the outcome of that consultation and request a decision on whether to mandate card payment facilities in all hackney carriages. The Licensing Officer outlined the scope of the consultation and the results, which had been circulated as appendices to the report. Members heard that 62% of public respondents indicated that they had experienced an issue with a Cardiff taxi because the driver could only accept cash as a payment. It was also noted that 84% of public respondents thought that taxis should be required to accept card payments, 7% thought they should not and 10% were unsure. In contrast to this, 42% of trade respondents thought that taxis should not be required to accept card payments, while 33% thought they should and 24% were unsure. The Licensing Officer explained that while cash payments had been preferred historically, public habits had shifted in recent years towards card payments and phone payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Card payments were easier and quicker and removed the need to drive a passenger to a cashpoint to pay the fare, improving public safety. Officers had reviewed the electronic payment devices on the market, which ranged from £29 to around £200. They did have processing/transaction fees but officers felt that any additional costs would be more than offset by increased trade as a result of offering card payments. He added that it would be unlawful to impose surcharges on customers, such as an additional fee for card payments, but officers would work with the trade if this led to any request to increase fares. It was recommended that the proposal be implemented from the 1st September 2024 to give drivers time to adapt. The Chair invited comments and questions from Members. Members noted the results of the public consultation, which showed significant public support but also some concerns raised by the taxi trade. Several Members welcomed the proposal as overdue, noting that it had been implemented in London in 2016. It was very common for people not to carry cash any more, and it was good to ensure people had choice in a capital city. Members noted that the transaction fees were very low, usually between 1-3% but sometimes as low as 0.03%, and suggested that the change could benefit drivers overall as it would encourage young people to use hackney carriages rather than Uber. Members also thanked officers for the comprehensive report and wide consultation. Responding to questions from the Committee, the Licensing Officer suggested that they were not expecting pushback from drivers who already took card payments if taxi rates were to rise now that it was mandatory. He added that anecdotally, he had found that who took card payments already got more trade than those who did not. The Committee heard that drivers would not be able to take a small deposit at the start of the journey, as was relatively common practice with cash fares in case the passenger absconded without paying. The Licensing Officer clarified that drivers legally had to take fares inside the district of Cardiff unless they had a reasonable excuse, and as long as the passenger had means to pay electronically then refusal to pay a deposit would not be considered a reasonable excuse. He added that a number of local authorities already required the option of card payments and this had not been a significant issue for any of them. Members highlighted the lack of an equality impact assessment in the report on the grounds that there would be no equality impact, and noted that this might not be the case since taxi drivers tended to be of relatively low socioeconomic status, and the £29-£200 cost of installing a card reader could be a significant amount of money. Members also noted that Transport For London’s equality impact assessment on the same topic had concluded that the change would have a positive impact, as taxis were heavily used by elderly and disabled passengers to get around the city. Members suggested clarifying in the conditions that taxis would continue to be required to accept cash too, to reassure the public that they were not going fully cashless. The Licensing Officer responded that they didn’t feel this was necessary as this was the status quo. Members highlighted the need to ensure that any transaction fees were not just passed directly onto the consumer, and suggested adding something to the conditions prohibiting a minimum fee for card payments like a lot of shops did. The Licensing Officer reassured them that this was not necessary because taxi regulations required the driver to accept a fare unless there was a reasonable excuse, which it being under £5 would not be. The Sub Committee discussed what would happen if a driver’s electronic payment device stopped working, and how this issue could be mitigated to prevent loss of business. The devices might be reliant on consistent internet signal, which was not a guarantee across Cardiff. Members discussed different types of card readers, some of which could take payments even when they were offline, but noted that the council was not intending to prescribe a specific type of device. Members explored the issue of enforcement when drivers breached these conditions. Cllr Gunter suggested that the conditions be amended to mitigate the potential loss of business if a driver’s card reader were to stop working and they were unable to replace it immediately. She proposed an amendment, which Cllr Shimmin seconded: “In the second condition, AFTER ‘fully operational and available for immediate use at all times the vehicle is being used for hire and reward (including whilst standing or plying for hire)…’ ADD: ‘…except in exceptional circumstances. In the event that a card reader has a technical fault, the licensee must notify the licensing authority within 48 hours, and the card reader must be fixed within 7 calendar days. During this time, the licensee must notify all passengers at the beginning of fares that they are unable to take card payments.’” The Sub Committee discussed the proposed amendment. Some Members felt that it was necessary to mitigate the possible loss of business if a card reader were to stop working through no fault of the driver, while others had concerns about enforceability and felt that 7 days was too long when drivers were given 48 hours to get their meter fixed. The Licensing Officer added that a number of card readers on the market had multiple fail-safes built in, allowing operators to use their smartphone in the event they didn’t work or send the customer a text message allowing them to pay by phone. As officers they felt it was unlikely that all of these would be exhausted. He also added that the original condition referred to electronic payment devices rather than specifically card readers, so these backup options would be permitted. The Chair invited Members to vote on the amendment, which was LOST. The Chair invited Members to vote on the original recommendations in the report, which were CARRIED. RESOLVED – That: The following conditions be added to the hackney carriage conditions of licence: - All hackney carriages must have an electronic payment device to accept debit/credit card and contactless payments. As a minimum, Visa and MasterCard must be accepted; - The electronic payment device must be kept in the vehicle, be fully operational and available for immediate use at all times the vehicle is being used for hire and reward (including whilst standing or plying for hire); - All hackney carriages must display prominent signage to prospective passengers that states card and contactless card payments are accepted; - No additional costs as a result of card payments may be passed onto the passenger; The proposal be implemented on 1st September 2024.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED – That: The application be approved.
The Committee received a report regarding an application for a variation of terms of a Sex Establishment Licence. The Chair requested Dan Cook, Licensing Officer, to present the report. Members were advised that Sex Establishment Licences were issued under the provisions of Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions), Act 1982. Any person who sold, hired, exchanged, lent, displayed or demonstrated sex articles (including 18R videos/DVDs etc) or other items which were intended to stimulate sexual activity were required to have a Sex Establishment Licence. The Act referred to such premises as sex shops. The operator, Mr Simon Sternschuss, had first acquired the licence in 2001 and successfully applied for a variation in 2007, which allowed the shop to open on the two Sundays before Christmas and the Sunday before New Year. He had now submitted a request for permission to open every Sunday from 10.00 to 16.00 hours and on bank holidays. In support of this request, he felt that that the current restricted opening hours were outdated, and the shop should be permitted to trade in line with other premises in the area. In 2009 the previously licensed sex shop located on 8 Mill Lane was granted permission to trade on Sundays and bank holidays. The Chair invited comments and questions from Members. The view was expressed that the fact that this matter had come before the Committee demonstrated how archaic the Sunday trading laws are. It was confirmed that there had been no representations from residents. The Chair invited Members to vote on the recommendations in the report, which were CARRIED. RESOLVED – That: The application be approved.
There were none.
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