Taxi drivers have relented on their threat to take cabs off the roads on St. Patrick’s Day, but concerns remain about the rising cost of doing business.
For the second year in a row, taxi drivers called attention to rising insurance rates for their industry through the threat of a St. Patrick’s Day strike.
Both times, the strike was averted with an 11th-hour meeting with the minister. Last year it was with now-Speaker Perry Trimper, this year it was with Service NL Minister Sherry Gambin-Walsh.
On March 1, an 18.6 per cent increase in insurance rates came into effect for taxi drivers — on top of a 30 per cent increase in third-party liability insurance for taxi drivers implemented on June 13, 2017.
Facility Association — the only company that insures cab drivers in the province — has received a 50 per cent increase in rates in 2013, followed by a 19 per cent increase in 2015 and a 28 per cent increase in 2016. The most recent increase is the fifth taxi insurance rate hike since 2013, after no changes in the previous 20 years.
These issues have long been top of mind for cab drivers in the city. St. John’s Taxi Alliance spokesman Doug McCarthy says the industry has been trying to find ways to mitigate repeated rate increases since former Progressive Conservative minister Dan Crummell helmed Service NL.
One of the demands of the industry was the removal of the 15 per cent harmonized sales tax on auto insurance across the province. McCarthy says that request is under review by the government.
“There will be an answer coming on that probably around the same time the reports are issued on the Public Utility Board study of insurance,” he said.
The Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (PUB) launched that review in August 2017, partly in response to last year’s call for change from the taxi industry. A full study of insurance claims by the taxi industry is being finalized.
PUB secretary Cheryl Blundon says the report will be made public in the coming week.
It’s unclear if the report will have recommendations for the government about taxi insurance rates in the province.
Taxi drivers also want a freeze on the insurance rates until the auto insurance review is completed. McCarthy says the government isn’t going to be able to budge on that request without concrete evidence that accident numbers are going down.
Another meeting is scheduled for three weeks from now to discuss the findings of the PUB report and determine what immediate changes will be made for insurance rates for the taxi industry.
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