Daytime London taxi fares set to rise 5.51%, whilst night time fares frozen

Taxi fares in London look set to increase 5.51% during daytime tariff rates in a bid to help the industry cover rising fuel and running costs.

Black cab prices between 10pm and 5am have been frozen, but amendments to the starting meter is likely to rise by 60p across all tariffs.

According to a fares consultation carried out by Transport for London (TfL), a recommendation has now been forwarded to TfL’s Finance Committee for final approval.

If approved, the black cab meter firms will begin the roll out of meter updates for the new Tariffs ready to then go live on 30 April 2022.

The taxi fares (on Tariffs 1 and 2) look likely to increase by 5.51% and the meter drop increased from £3.20 to £3.80. There are also recommendations to freeze Tariffs 3 and 4, increasing the Heathrow extra from £2.80 to £3.60 and introducing a new extra of £5.20 to be added to the meter when dropping a passenger at the terminals at Heathrow to cover the drop off fee.

Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) set the feeder park fee which taxi drivers must pay to access the taxi rank. In July 2021 the fee increased from £3.60 to £7.20. HAL state that the large increase is needed to cover losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic, as HAL contractually cannot subsidise this.

The consultation also asked whether taxi drivers should be allowed to add an extra charge to the fare paid by passengers when they are dropped off at Heathrow Airport.

A new ‘Terminal Drop Off Charge’ now applies to ALL vehicles entering the forecourts of Heathrow’s terminals, although licensed taxis are currently on an exception list until April 2022.

This new £5.20 fee added to the fares would help drivers cover the costs of the new £5 terminal drop off charge and any card payment fees occurred.