Mytaxi offers €1m in incentives in bid to solve driver shortage crisis

MYTAXI is attempting to increase the number of drivers on its books by offering a total of €1m in incentives to the first

500 drivers who pass the test needed to enter the taxi sector and then drive for the company.

The taxi app firm hopes to boost its fleet by up to 5pc by early next year.

Each driver who meets the requirements set out by the taxi booking app will be paid

€2,000. However, drivers will not be paid the signing-on bonus until a number of conditions are met.

The first €1,000 of the incentive covers the €90 small public service vehicles (SPSV) test fee and the €250 taxi licence fee, with the balance to be used at the taxi driver’s discretion to cover other set-up costs associated with starting out as a taxi driver, such as car rental or purchase, smartphone purchase and insurance.

The €1,000 will be paid in four €250 instalments on a weekly basis for four weeks, once a person becomes an active taxi driver. The company is therefore not covering the startup costs for drivers up front.

With the initial €1,000 being allocated towards start-up costs for new taxi drivers, the incentive will not be open to drivers looking to move to Mytaxi from other companies, nor will it be open to taxi drivers who are currently operating as sole traders and might be considering moving to the taxi app company.

A spokesperson for Mytaxi said it offers other incentives for such drivers.

The second €1,000 will be paid once employees become an active Mytaxi driver, and only on condition that drivers complete at least 60 jobs per week in his or her first four weeks. The company says this is to incentivise drivers to be available at peak times.

A spokesperson for Mytaxi added that competitors were not offering such incentives.

The second incentive is available to all new drivers who join Mytaxi, including those who join from another taxi feet.

The incentive comes in the wake of increased demand for taxis in Ireland.

According to Tim Arnold, general manager of Mytaxi Ireland, in 2016 three drivers retired from the industry for every new driver who passed the SPSV test.

“We badly need to reverse this trend and recruit more drivers to service huge customer demand,” Mr Arnold said.

Last month the taxi app firm increased its charges by €2. Mytaxi said the booking fee was an industry-standard fee charged by all taxi providers.