Irish taxi drivers hit hard with yet another price hike and warning of cancellation fees

FREENOW passengers are in for a big hit as the taxi booking app will introduce new fees – and those canceling taxis may have to shell out up to €10.

The company announced the price change in an email sent to customers today.

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Under the new charges, passengers could be charged up to €10 if they cancel their journey or fail to show up within a set timeframe.

The company’s “technology fees” will also rise after the company introduced the fees last year.

Under the “technology fee” €1 was added on top of booking fees and the cost of the trip, with the company saying the money would be used to invest in improving the app.

FreeNow said in the email that the fee structure is now changing – while it will continue to charge €1 for regular taxi bookings, this will increase to €3 for five-seat taxis and €5 for “premium” taxis.

Customer cancellation fees will also be adjusted.

PREMIUM CABIN ACCESS

If a passenger cancels the booking two or more minutes after the driver has accepted the fare, the passenger will be charged €5 – the same as since 2020.

For Premium cabs, however, this increases to €10.

If a customer does not arrive within 10 minutes of the taxi arrival and the driver subsequently cancels the booking, the passenger will be charged a €10 cancellation fee.

These new fees will be implemented from January 11, 2023.

The new pricing structure comes just six months after the company first introduced the technology fee.

The cost of hiring a taxi skyrocketed in September after the national transport authority gave the green light for a 12 per cent increase, with the starting price rising from €3.80 to €4.20.

At night, on Sundays and public holidays, the front-end load rose from EUR 4.20 to EUR 4.80.

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

Meanwhile, the national minimum hourly rate is set to rise in a few days.

Thousands across the country can expect a pay rise starting January 1, 2023.

From the age of 20, a minimum wage of 11.30 euros per hour is paid.

Irish workers in this age group used to earn €10.50 an hour, an increase of 80 cents.

In addition, 19-year-olds receive at least 10.17 euros per hour.

This has increased compared to the previous hourly wage of €9.45.

And 18-year-olds who work in Ireland should get 9.04 euros an hour in the new year.

Before that, the minimum hourly rate was €8.40.

And under-18s can expect a minimum hourly wage of €7.91, up from the previous rate of €7.35.

Several categories of workers are exempt from the national minimum wage.