Meters
Sealed calendar meters are required to be fitted to all hackney carriage vehicles.
It is a condition of your licence that you have a sealed calibrated meter fitted.
A calibration certificate is required at the time of licensing/ re-licensing certifying that the meter has been calibrated at a rate that does not exceed the Council’s maximum fare rate.
Fare Structure
The current maximum fare card took effect from October 2022.
The Wealden Fare Card October 2022 must be displayed in a prominent position in every Hackney Carriage.
The fare structure includes a ‘discretionary supplement’ of £5-00 for pre-booked journeys only. This was introduced to help compensate drivers for those journeys involving excessive ‘dead’ mileage. If this supplement is to be charged then the customer must be notified of the additional charge, and agree it, at the time of booking. The supplement can not be levied for immediate hires. Any misuse of this supplement will lead to disciplinary action against the driver and/or company. Your meter will need to be set to display this additional £5-00 supplement as an ‘extra’.
Please note that you may only start charging the current tariff rate and discretionary supplement after your taximeter has been recalibrated by an approved installer, and they have issued a new calibration certificate which you have lodged with the Council see the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy and Guidance document.
If you wish to charge a lower fare tariff, or continue with the previous maximum, then your meter should reflect that rate and a fare card for that lower tariff must also be displayed next to the current Wealden fare card (both cards must be displayed). The fare card size should be A5 or larger.
Regardless of whether the meter is set to the Council’s maximum fare, or your own lower fare rate, it is an offence to charge more than the fare shown on the meter.
The Council would strongly encourage vehicle owners to set meters to display the Council’s set maximum fare rate. Customers can be confused if hackney carriage vehicles operate different meter tariffs e.g. a passenger could take the same journey every day using a different hackney carriage and the meter could display something different. This can lead to passenger complaints of overcharging. If all meters were set to display the Council’s maximum fare tariff this would benefit drivers and passengers. The driver is still free to spot discount at the end of the journey or calculate the fare in accordance with their own displayed tariff.
Finally you are reminded that a taximeter must be used for all Hackney Carriage journeys that start and finish within the Wealden district. The meter must not be started until the passenger is in the vehicle and you pull away. Dead mileage driving to and from the passenger’s address can not be charged.
Please see, ‘Fares & Taximeters’ section of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and Guidance for further information.
Complaints can be made to the Licensing Officer using the contact details below.