Taxi Drivers Protest Against New Emission Rules

Tense scenes outside Reading council offices as taxi drivers protested being forced into electric and hybrid vehicles.

Dozens surrounded councillors at the Bridge Street offices over Reading Borough Council's vehicle age and emissions rules.

The council only allows vehicles which emit 75 mg of nitrogen oxides (NOx) per kilometre, which drivers say can even rule out Euro 6 emissions vehicles which can travel in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) for free.

John Ennis (Labour, Southcote), lead councillor for transport, deputy leader Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley) and Glenn Dennis (Labour, Kentwood) were seen speaking with drivers.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke with members of the Reading Private Hire Association (RPHA), set up in December 2022 to represent drivers.

Aftab Malik said: "The issue is [electric vehicles] only give you 120 miles on full charge.

"And then if you’re using the radio, air con, it comes down to 90 miles.

"And if you charge overnight at home or the office, that’s fine. But if you go into charging points in the fuel stations, it’s £38 for a full charge; that gives you 50-60 miles, and then you’ve got to recharge it again."

Drivers complained about a lack of charging infrastructure and the cost of rapid charging.

Those with Euro 6 vehicles fear they could be barred despite ULEZ compliance.

Azz Asghar, who recently bought a diesel eight-seat Volkswagen Transporter for £36,500, said: "I emailed to check with the council’s licensing department that this vehicle was compliant, and they said it was ok.

"So I went ahead and bought it, only to get an email saying ‘sorry it’s non-compliant’."

Mr Asghar is being allowed to use the vehicle for now but fears that could change.

Shahid Rafiq, chairman of the RTA, said he could not charge an electric vehicle as he lives in a flat with no charging points.

Nazneen Ali, a school transport driver, said the council is imposing strict age and emissions rules on people who only work term time for drop-offs and pick-ups.

The protest happened before a licensing applications committee meeting on Thursday 9 July about the hackney carriage (cab) trade, which differs from private hire drivers who must be pre-booked.

The public chamber was full and committee chair Paul Woodward (Labour, Church) said only appointed people could speak.

Asif Rashid, chairman of the Reading Taxi Association, said: "Work has gone down since 2023. The post covid bubble has burst.

"Clearly there is no unmet demand. From our perspective, we want to retain the status quo for five years."

Manzoor Hussain from the RPHA said: "We support Mr Rashid, it’s better to stop any more licences, because work has gone down, we’re all suffering together."

He added: "We’ve lost faith in the council. We’ve been completely ignored altogether. To be frank, I’m a pensioner now, I’m going to be out of here soon. These guys and these ladies [school transport drivers] don’t have a voice."

Councillors unanimously decided not to increase the number of cabs in Reading and to run another unmet demand survey in five years.

The drivers were thanked for attending and Cllr Woodward joked: "I do love a good demonstration!"

Mr Rashid said he was happy with the decision.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter