Fact sheet

The Tasmanian Government is committed to providing opportunities for community involvement in the development of government policy and we are seeking your input on the Regulatory Impact Statement relating to the proposed Taxi and Hire Vehicle Industries Regulations 2023.

The proposed regulations set out the more detailed operational requirements to support the objectives of the Taxi and Hire Vehicle Industries Act 2008.  The Act aims to promote a safe, demand-responsive taxi transport system that adequately meets the needs of consumers. It establishes the nature and type of operating licences and authorisation process, limitations around the use of a licence, specific operating area restrictions, the setting of fares and the use of taxi security cameras.

The Act prohibits small passenger transport vehicles other than taxis such as luxury hire cars, ride-share and restricted hire vehicles from displaying certain signage and being able to be hired by hail or by a rank.

Taxis are the only small passenger transport service where the consumer can hire by hail or on a rank without pre-booking the service.

Taxi regulation ensures that when hiring a taxi by hail or on a rank the consumer:

1. can readily differentiate a taxi from other vehicles on the road
2. can be assured they will be charged the correct fare, and the vehicle is otherwise suitable.

The proposed regulations provide the specific requirements to be followed under the Taxi and Hire Vehicle Industries Act 2008 and:

• protect the safety of the consumer
• ensure consumers are able to access taxi services and that minimum standards are maintained, and
• set administrative and operational requirements for licensed taxi, hire vehicle and luxury hire car services.

The proposed regulations cover laws about licensed commercial point-to-point small passenger transport services including taxi services, restricted hire (special) vehicle services and luxury hire car services.

The following laws are not proposed to change:

• Licence plates and labels to show that the taxi is authorised.
• Taxis operate within a licensed geographical area.
• Compliance with any conditions imposed on a licence.

The following laws are proposed to continue but with some additional flexibility about implementation:

• Universally identifiable taxi equipment (such as roof lights).
• Taximeters to ensure a passenger is charged the correct fare.
• Minimum vehicle specifications and taxi equipment installed (including for video recordings).

These laws are considered important so consumers can recognise a taxi as there is standardised signage and equipment on the taxi and there are minimum standards for the taxi to meet such as roadworthiness standards, and that the taxi has been subject to regular regulatory inspections.

The new rules will help people who use wheelchairs by increasing the availability of wheelchair accessible taxis (WATs) and include

• Every WAT must undertake at least 30 WAT trips per month.
• WATs drivers to be paid $10 (by the Tasmanian Government) for every WAT trip undertaken to reimburse their time to load and unload a passenger which will incentivise them to take WAT trips. This takes the overall subsidy for this purpose to $20 shared between the driver and operator.
• WAT operators can keep their WAT vehicles longer with the removal of the vehicle retirement age, provided the vehicle remains safe by undertaking the mandatory 12-month regulatory inspection.
• Consideration of reasonable excuses for not undertaking 30 or more trips per month such as a vehicle being off the road or lack of demand for WAT services without action being undertaken.

Additionally:

• Taxi operators benefit by having access to a simplified arrangement for testing of equipment.
• Authorised testers of equipment have a simplified process to become and cease being authorised.
• More flexibility as to the type of taxi security cameras installed in taxis.
• Luxury hire car operators benefit to being able to access a wider range of vehicles:
  • by the reduction of the wheelbase to 2,700mm and the adoption of the lower Australian Tax Office luxury car tax threshold.
  • by allowing older vehicles to be used.

Laws around ride-source platforms, community transport, bus services and accreditation are covered by the Passenger Transport Services Act 2011, so are excluded from the proposed regulations.

Laws relating to the use and tampering of taxi equipment, driver and operator offences and responsibilities are covered by the Passenger Transport Services Regulations.

The Passenger Transport Services Regulations 2013 are currently being remade into the Passenger Transport Services Regulations 2023. These draft regulations are available here. They are not subject to a RIS but if you would like to specifically comment on those regulations, you can do so by emailing taxireview@stategrowth.tas.gov.au.

To access the RIS and the proposed regulations go to www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au or email taxireview@stategrowth.tas.gov.au

All written submissions on the Regulatory Impact Statement relating to the Taxi and Hire Vehicle Industries Regulations 2023 must be received by 5.00 pm on 16 May 2023

Submissions can be forward to:

Email: taxireview@stategrowth.tas.gov.au

Mail:

Attention: Manager Legislation and Compliance

Department of State Growth

GPO Box 536

HOBART  TAS 7000

Other than indicated below, submissions will be treated as public information and will be published on our website at www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au once consideration of the submissions have concluded. Submissions will be published by late May 2023.

No personal information other than an individual’s name or the organisation making a submission will be published.

For further information, please contact: Manager Legislation and Compliance at taxireview@stategrowth.tas.gov.au

We recognise that not all individuals or groups are equally placed to access and understand information.  We are therefore committed to ensuring government information is accessible and easily understood by people with diverse communication needs.

Where possible, please consider typing your submission in plain English and providing it in a format such as Microsoft Word or equivalent.

We cannot however take responsibility for the accessibility of documents provided by third parties.

Your name (or the name of the organisation) will be published unless you request otherwise.

In the absence of a clear indication that a submission is intended to be treated as confidential (or parts of the submission), the department will treat the submission as public.

If you would like your submission treated as confidential, whether in whole or in part, please indicate this in writing at the time of making your submission clearly identifying the parts of your submission you want to remain confidential and the reasons why. In this case, your submission will not be published to the extent of that request.

Copyright in submissions remains with the author(s), not with the Tasmanian Government.

The department will not publish, in whole or in part, submissions containing defamatory or offensive material. If your submission includes information that could enable the identification of other individuals then either all or parts of the submission will not be published.

The Right to Information Act 2009 and confidentiality

Information provided to the government may be provided to an applicant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI). If you have indicated that you wish all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential, your statement detailing the reasons may be taken into account in determining whether or not to release the information in the event of an RTI application for assessed disclosure. You may also be contacted to provide any further comment.