Not fare! Taxi app in £10 minimum charge

 
Minimum fee: Hailo's £10 minimum was branded 'ludicrous'
Lindsay Watling31 October 2013

British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman today attacked the decision by online taxi-booking service Hailo to increase its minimum fare to £10.

The free smartphone app, which can be used to book a black cab in just two clicks, has become popular with Londoners.

It has always charged at least £5 per journey and since February the £10 minimum has applied at weekends.

But the news that this has been extended to weekdays was today met with outrage online.

Some vowed to switch to companies such as Get Taxi or Kabbee or return to the traditional method of flagging down a taxi.

Others questioned the legality of the move when Transport for London’s minimum price is £2.40.

Shulman said she was shocked by the “ludicrous” change. “I think Hailo is one of the great inventions, but a minimum price completely ruins it — after all you often need a ride somewhere near,” she said. “I won’t use Hailo for any local rides now. I copied Boris Johnson in on my tweet as the cabbie told me he was against the rise. It’s also not spelt out clearly on the app. My driver said most of the cabbies were against it — and at night it would be a nightmare with people seeing six quid on the clock and being charged £15.”

Another user of the service, David Searle, wrote on Twitter: “I hail a cab with hailo, paying cash, fare on meter is £7 — Can driver legally force me to pay more?”

Hailo said it had brought in the measure to “boost availability” in the context of “unprecedented demand” and insisted the change would not affect the 85 per cent of customers who already pay more than £16.

“Enforcing a minimum charge allows you to still make those short journeys, but also makes your hail worthwhile for the drivers too,” said a spokesman.

Helen Chapman, TfL’s general manager for taxi and private hire, said: “We are investigating complaints about Hailo introducing a minimum fare policy. It is against the licensing regulations for any taxi driver to charge a customer more than the metered fare.”

Hailo will now charge a minimum of £10 between 6am and 10pm, rising to £15 overnight.

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