NOEL ROCK, TD, and others speaking or writing in support of the NTA impending requirement on Taxi drivers to be legally obliged to provide Credit/Debit Card payment facilities in their taxis, and to be equally, legally bound to accept payment for a fare by such means. Are very pleased with themselves in justifying this legal obligation and compulsion on Taxi Drivers, on the basis, that people can go into virtually any shop or business in any town, and pay for any purchase utilising a Credit/Debit Card.
What they are not so keen to point out, is that no other type of business in this Irish State is legally obligated to accept payment by Credit/Debit Card. But that they do so by choice founded on the volume of customer they expect to be doing business with.
A Taxi Driver is a sole individual in their business premises, their Taxi that is. There’s a limit to the number of individual fares that they can undertake per day/week, hence their ability to spread the costs associated with operating a Credit Card payment facility is severally limited. This will be especially true for any part-time drivers or semi-retired drivers.
Streetdogs.blog will be returning to this subject at some stage, and would welcome drivers views and input about how they feel this affect their bottom line.
streetdogs.blog 
If, Taxi Drivers are indeed the only people in this country who are required by law to accept Credit Card payments, and bearing in mind that to be able to accept Credit Card payment, such a driver must have a bank account. So this in effect means that a Taxi Driver is is also the only person in the State to be forced by law to have a bank account. Surely so called Taxi Drivers representatives, would see this as a breech of a citizen’s Constitutional Rights?
Or are Taxi Drivers simply second class citizens.
LikeLike