Australian Capital Territory

We believe a group of Canberra cabbies have recently established a Canberra Taxi Drivers Association - if anyone has contact details for this group please let the ATDA know at mail@tda.net.au so we can get in touch and offer them our support.

Certainly the situation for taxi drivers in the ACT appears to be as dire as everywhere else in Australia: under cross examination by Michael Jools, who was acting on behalf of the NSW TDA in a review by the Supreme Court Tribunal into the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision to renew Cabcharge's authorisation to enforce their monopolistic powers, the General Manager of Canberra Taxis said he had "never considered" the implications to drivers and operators of the fact that processing credit card payments through Cabcharge (instead of doing it themselves) has cost Canberra Taxis over $350,000 every year for the past ten years!

The executives sitting behind desks at Canberra Taxis might not consider $3.5 million could be put to use improving the industry and conditions for ACT cabbies - but you can be certain a group of drivers actually on the road there or anywhere else in Australia would have some pretty good ideas. Makes you wonder how much longer the public can afford for the figures controlling the industry to keep ignoring the people who actually keep the the industry going!