Highland Council has come under fire for wasting hundreds of pounds of taxpayers money by posting letters by recorded delivery to notify taxi operators of recent fare rises.
The local authority posted first class recorded delivery letters to more than 500 taxi operators in the region at a cost of £1.61 each, amounting to at least £805 – but could have saved £610 by using 2nd class.
The council yesterday made clear that it was legally obliged to notify taxi operators of changes to tariffs in writing by recorded delivery.
Despite this, calls have been made from both the UK Taxpayers Alliance and Inverness Taxi Alliance to consider changed so that operators can receive the same information by e-mail.
One north taxi operator who did not want to be named said: “Has Highland Council not heard the saying, ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.'”
Andrew MacDonald, chairman of the Inverness Taxi Alliance, said: “If the statute dictates this then the council have not got much choice but it does seem a bit unnecessary to use recorded delivery in this day and age. I think e-mail would be a better choice. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the statute.
“Considering the reviewed increase is not going to be implemented until the end of September, I would think that using 2nd class mail would have been a better option.”
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: “The council doesn’t have much choice, but we need to remember that a lot of these laws were designed for a pre-internet age. With technology available that allows the authorities to see if someone has read an email, for instance, there might be an argument to look again at these regulations.”
The Taxi Alliance met on Wednesday to discuss how to advance further fare rises. Mr MacDonald said: “There is a great deal of work to be done. The council have a statutory obligation every 18 months to review tariffs and we have a lot to put forward to them. A 50p rise on the flagfall fare means customers would pay the same 50p for a run from the rank to the Ferry as they would from the rank to Aberdeen, because it is just for the first 800 yards.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “It is a statutory obligation of the licensing authority to notify licensed taxi operators of changes to tariffs inwriting by recorded delivery.”
Members of the authority’s licensing committee decided to increase the existing trade minimum tariff by 50p from £2.50 to £3 from September 28.