Mayor Tory seeks freeze on city’s taxi licensing fees
Beck Taxi says move shows that cabbies face unfair competition
Mayor John Tory wants Toronto taxi licensing fees frozen at 2015 rates after Beck Taxi protested the annual inflationary increase, saying it’s not fair to cabbies facing competition from Uber.
“This will offer some modest relief to those paying the fees early in the new year,” Tory said in an open letter sent to the city’s budget chair, Councillor Gary Crawford.
Kristine Hubbard, Beck’s operations manager, thanked Tory for listening, a day after blasting the city for the impending 2.5-per-cent fee hike.
“The intention to freeze increases on licensing fees is a first step in acknowledging taxi drivers in Toronto are facing undue financial burdens and are being asked to compete against an illegal operator,” she said in an emailed statement.
Hubbard said her company looks forward to working with the mayor and councillors to establish “smart and effective regulations that are fair for the entire ground transportation industry and properly protect the citizens of Toronto.”
In his letter, Tory asks the budget committee to recommend that council support the freeze, which “will reduce amounts needed to be refunded if, for example, the fees in question are in fact reduced under the new rules.”
Council has directed municipal licensing staff to develop new regulations “to allow for a more viable and equitable competitive environment for taxis,” his letter states.
Tory said the regulations are expected this winter and he expects they “will likely include alterations to those very same fees for cab drivers and owners.”
Business licensing fees, including taxi licensing fees, are subject to automatic inflationary increases under the Toronto Municipal Code. Council has final say over any changes.
City spokesperson Jackie DeSouza said taxi licensees would still need to pay the increase due Jan.1 “as per the renewal notices that have already been sent out.
“If council makes a decision to, for example, keep the fees at 2015 levels, then the money will be refunded retroactively.”