Unbooked taxi fare review 2020

We are required to review and set the maximum fares that commercial passenger vehicles can charge for unbooked trips every two years. On 8 September 2020, we released our Unbooked taxi fare review 2020 - final decision and price determination.

Our decision is to keep maximum fares unchanged

We consider this approach best meets our legislative objectives and requirements.

Given the current and uncertain future impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the commercial passenger vehicle industry, keeping maximum fares unchanged will provide some level of stability for consumers and unbooked taxi service providers.

Our decision will not require unbooked taxi service providers to update meters and stickers during these challenging times. 

The maximum fares apply to unbooked trips that begin in the metro or urban and large regional zones, which cover most of metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Frankston, Dandenong and the Mornington Peninsula.

We decided to keep ‘time and distance’ tariffs optional 

Metering technology may no longer be a barrier to implementing ‘time and distance’ tariffs, and they have certain benefits over ‘time or distance’ tariffs. However, in the context of the current pandemic and possible resource constraints within the commercial passenger vehicle industry, it is appropriate for the use of ‘time and distance’ tariffs to remain optional for now. 

This decision took effect in October

The release of this final decision, together with our price determination, is the last step in our review process.

The new price determination came into effect on 1 October 2020.