Taxi drivers ‘earn less than minimum wage’ due to glut of licences

TAXIS flooded city streets yesterday to highlight what they see as a surplus of licences compared to public demand.

According to taxi unions, the continued issuing of the licences is not matching the number of journeys demanded by the public, meaning many drivers are earning less than the minimum hourly wage after their expenses are deducted.

They say the taxi regulator is churning out 300 taxi licences per month, and that would require an extra 9,000 customers each month for profitability to remain constant.