We are part the way through the festive period here in the UK with New Year’s Eve a couple of days away. Traditionally, it is a time when the public tends to get a taxi home as he or she is out on the town enjoying a drink or two. Very sensibly, a lot of people decide to leave their cars at home and travel to and from a venue such as a restaurant or nightclub in either a taxi or a private hire vehicle.

The question is – will you be increasing how much you charge your passengers if they want to use your service on New Year’s Eve. The answer is probably going to be that you will be charging extra.

However, let’s not forget that a considerable number of taxi drivers may decide not to work on the evening of the 31st December 2023 into the early hours of the 1st January 2024 as he or she prefers to spend time bringing in the New Year with family and friends.

Do bear in mind that it is the likes of your local authority that say how much you can increase your fares on New Year’s Eve. Some taxi drivers may think that they can charge double for a taxi fare but this is almost certainly not the case. As an example, in London, Transport for London has said that taxi drivers can add an extra £4.00 to the cost of a taxi journey for passengers travelling between 8pm on the 31st December 2023 and 6am on the 2nd January 2024.

That might not seem a very big increase but we are going through difficult times from a financial perspective here in the UK and many people are having to cut back on their domestic expenditure.

There comes a point for some taxi drivers when he or she weighs up the financial benefit of working on New Year’s Eve into the early hours of the following day with being able to spend quality time with their loved ones during the festive period, The decision has to be yours. Whatever you do decide to do may we just take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very happy and prosperous 2024.