NEW STANDARDS FOR TAXI INDUSTRY
Source: Victoria. Minister for Public Transport. Media Release.
"Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, has announced the finalisation of a new accreditation scheme for Victoria’s taxi industry which will come into effect on December 31.
Ms Kosky said the new accreditation scheme would apply to all taxi licence holders and operators and would regulate the state’s taxi industry delivering better services for passengers.
“The new industry accreditation package is the most significant policy and legislative change to taxi regulation in the past 20 years,” Ms Kosky said.
“It will extend the chain of responsibility for the quality of taxi services to all roles in the industry – from the owners and operators of taxi licences to the large and small taxi networks which take the bookings and the drivers who deliver the service to passengers.
“Drivers are not included in the scheme because they are already covered by a separate accreditation scheme. The new scheme is about setting standards for those who own a taxi-cab licence, taxi-cab operators and providers of taxi-cab network services.

Ms Kosky said new taxi industry accreditation would make it easier to:

• Take action in response to customer complaints; · Improve interaction between drivers, operators, networks and passengers;
• Assist poor performers to lift their level of service;
• Weed out the minority who fail to come up to the new standards;
• Stop undesirable characters from entering the industry;
• Collect reliable data on industry performance.

Key changes to the draft standards following industry consultation include:

• Clarifying the responsibilities of licence holders to focus on safety and service, removing potential access to commercially sensitive information held by taxi operators;
• Directing networks that they may continue to impose fines on drivers for disciplinary breaches but fines must be lawful and within the maximum amounts set out in the standards;
• Removing the requirement for networks to advise customers when a taxi-cab is likely to arrive, instead requiring that they advise customers of any significant known delay."