The NSW Taxi Council has been advocating for and working with the NSW Government and the Point to Point Transport Commission over the past few months for a NSW Taxi Industry specific assistance package.
We are pleased to inform our members that a $12.6 Million NSW Taxi Industry Support Package announced today will provide much needed financial relief to the stakeholders of NSW Taxi Industry in Sydney as well as Regional NSW, who have been significantly impacted by the dramatic reduction in demand for taxis and the ensuing challenges as a result of the shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The support package specifically focuses on reducing the costs involved in keeping the taxis on road including the CTP, Registrations and Insurances and provides much needed financial assistance for WAT vehcile owners, owners of registered taxis, owners of annual renewable Taxi licences as well as taxi service providers to get through this challenging and trying period.
Whilst this package is welcomed in supporting the Taxis that are currently operating, our next challenge is to see how we get the over 3,000 Taxis that are currently de-registered back into circulation.
Highlights of the Package
$2.52 million in financial assistance to WAT vehicle owners to ensure they can continue to provide services to the most vulnerable members of our community. This support will provide $2,900 to the owner of each registered WAT reflecting a six-month subsidy of CTP insurance, registration fees and other on road costs. To be eligible for this payment you must be registered or reregister the vehicle by 30 June 2020. Applications are anticipated to open in June 2020 through Service NSW.
$7.54 million to provide support for the owners of other registered taxis as at 1 May. This will provide $2,900 to the owner of each vehicle registered as a non-WAT taxi on 1 May 2020 reflecting a six-month subsidy of CTP insurance, registration fees and other on road costs. Any vehicle de-registered since 1 May 2020 can be re-registered by 30 June 2020 to be eligible. Applications are anticipated to open in June 2020 through Service NSW.
$1.55m has been set aside to cover up to six months of the taxi licence fee to holders of annual renewable taxi licences issued by the NSW Government. This will provide around $7,000 assistance to these licence holders.
$968,000 has been set aside to provide a waiver of the first $500 payable of the 2018/19 authorisation fees for all authorised service providers, which includes taxi service providers and booking service providers.
Information for the Application Process
To apply for the relief, eligible taxi operators and service providers will have to claim their subsidy via the Service NSW's website or through a Service NSW Centre.
An eligibility criteria applies, and includes registration dates and continuation of registration for a period of six months from 1 May 2020. The anticipated date for the applications to open is from 1 June 2020 at www.service.nsw.gov.au/covid-19.
Those currently holding a renewable annual taxi licence issued by the NSW Government will receive a 50 per cent waiver of their annual licence fee. Eligible taxi licence holders will be contacted by the NSW Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s office.
The support package also provides a $500 waiver of 2018/19 authorisation fees for all authorised service providers, which represents a full annual fee waiver for over 1,800 smaller service providers.
