Taxi Chaos Heads South

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday August 19, 2008

By MICHELLE HARRIS and GARETH BETHELL

CABCHARGE is now fighting frustrations about its new booking and despatch system on two fronts, with St George Cabs drivers staging protests after experiencing problems similar to those that have plagued Newcastle Taxis.

But the company says the situations in the two areas are "unrelated" as the specifications of the systems in each place are vastly different.

The Newcastle Taxi Operators' Association was due to meet last night to discuss its options, including possibly contacting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The Catapult booking system was launched in Newcastle in May and supplied to St George Cabs for installation in its taxis last month.

Echoing the complaints of Newcastle operators, St George drivers say they have since had problems receiving booking details, leaving them out of pocket and customers stranded.

"It hasn't worked properly at all," driver Nader Zahr said.

"We have had enough. A lot of these people have got families and mortgages."

About 190 St George drivers staged protests in Sydney last week.

Newcastle drivers' association spokeswoman Karon Sharman said members feared Cabcharge would back away from an earlier mention of compensation because it could set a precedent for dealings in St George.

She said Cabcharge had been expected to outline what it would offer operators ahead of last night's meeting, but nothing had been said yesterday.

Cabcharge spokeswoman Anne Rein said the company was reviewing the Newcastle base fees it charged operators, but she was not aware of any discussion about providing compensation.