Northampton taxi drivers fight 'discriminatory' rules

Taxi drivers took their protest to the steps of the Guildhall in Northampton

Taxi drivers have been protesting outside council offices against proposed new regulations.

They say the new rules, which are being discussed at a meeting on Tuesday evening, will discriminate against "migrant and minority workers".

They include a penalty points system and a requirement for good conduct certificates from foreign authorities.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said the measures would improve standards and increase public safety.

The updated policy for Hackney Carriage and private hire drivers was proposed last year and the council consulted local drivers and operators.

It provoked a strong response from the industry, but drivers say a promise to make changes was broken with the draft rules largely untouched.

One of the most controversial proposals is a system of penalty points that would be imposed for infringements of the rules, including:

• Failure to comply with the driver dress code

• Failure to offer reasonable assistance with luggage

• Failure to notify lost property to the police within 48 hours

Shafqat Shah, who chairs the local branch of the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU), said: "If I'm parked on a yellow line with passengers, I could actually get points for that. Where am I supposed to drop those passengers if they are disabled or anything like that?

"This is one of most stringent policies that they're doing in the UK. If it gets through in Northampton, then it's going to happen everywhere else."

Concern has also been raised in some of the consultation responses about the requirement for foreign nationals not continuously resident in the UK for more than five years to produce a certificate of good conduct authenticated by each country they have lived in.

ACDU said this rule was "a racist and xenophobic policy that unfairly singles out migrant workers".

WNC indicated that it would not comment before the meeting but previously said that "a huge amount of work has gone into devising an approach which levels the playing field for drivers and operators across West Northamptonshire".