We have completed our review of maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan or Urban and Large Regional Zones.
Unbooked taxi fares and non-cash payment surcharge review 2024
- Consultation paper released31 October 2023
- Submissions on consultation paper close15 December 2023
- Release draft decision13 June 2024
- Submissions on draft decision close12 July 2024
- Final decision and new price determinations16 August 2024
Overview
In August 2024, we completed our review of the maximum fares for unbooked taxi trips that begin in either the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or the Urban and Large Regional Zone, which covers most of Melbourne, Dandenong, Frankston, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula.
We also reviewed the maximum non-cash payment surcharges for taxi services in Victoria. The surcharge may apply when a taxi passenger pays for a fare using non-cash payment transaction options, such as credit and debit cards or Cabcharge.
We released our final decisions and determinations for the maximum unbooked taxi fares and maximum non-cash payment surcharge.
Our final decision
Our final decision was to:
- increase the maximum unbooked taxi fares by 5.5 per cent, except for the high occupancy fees and charges, which will increase by 6.2 per cent, in line with the change in our taxi cost indexes
- apply a fare adjustment mechanism that will change fares in line with our taxi cost indexes in 2025, if certain conditions are met.
Our final decision on the maximum non-cash payment surcharge was to retain the maximum surcharges at:
- 4 per cent (including GST) for all non-cash payment methods, except commercial passenger vehicle specific payment instruments
- 6 per cent (no GST payable) for commercial passenger vehicle specific payment instruments (such as the Cabcharge payment instrument).
We consulted on our draft decision between 13 June and 12 July 2024. We received 9 submissions, including 1 confidentially, mostly via Engage Victoria. We considered all relevant feedback in coming to our final decision.
Approved maximum fares – Melbourne metropolitan and urban area (effective from 23 September 2024)
Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or the Urban area of the Urban and Large Regional Zone – ‘time or distance’ tariffs
| Tariff 1 ‘Day’ (9am–5pm) | Tariff 2 ‘Overnight’ (5pm–9am, excluding peak) | Tariff 3 ‘Peak’ (Fri & Sat nights 10pm–4am) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard fare components | Maximum charge up to | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $5.10 | $6.35 | $7.60 |
| Distance rate ($/km) (when speed is above 21 km/hr) | $1.982 | $2.204 | $2.426 |
| Detention rate ($/min) (when speed is below 21 km/hr) | $0.694 | $0.771 | $0.849 |
| Other fare components (applicable to tariffs 1, 2 and 3) | Maximum charge up to | ||
| High occupancy fee (a) | $17.35 | ||
| Airport taxi rank fee (b) (For trips from the airport rank) | Pass-through | ||
| Holiday rate (c) | Tariff 3 rates | ||
| CPV levy recovery fee | Pass-through | ||
| CityLink and EastLink tolls (d) | Pass-through | ||
| Cleaning fee | Up to a maximum of $120 | ||
Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or the Urban area of the Urban and Large Regional Zone – ‘time and distance’ tariffs
| Tariff 1 ‘Day’ (9am–5pm) | Tariff 2 ‘Overnight’ (5pm–9am, excluding peak) | Tariff 3 ‘Peak’ (Fri & Sat nights 10pm–4am) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard fare components | Maximum charge up to | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $5.10 | $6.35 | $7.60 |
| Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times) | $1.639 | $1.820 | $2.014 |
| Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times) | $0.421 | $0.462 | $0.499 |
| Other fare components (applicable to tariffs 1, 2 and 3) | Maximum charge up to | ||
| High occupancy fee (a) | $17.35 | ||
| Airport taxi rank fee (b) (For trips from the airport rank) | Pass-through | ||
| Holiday rate (c) | Tariff 3 rates | ||
| CPV levy recovery fee | Pass-through | ||
| CityLink and EastLink tolls (d) | Pass-through | ||
| Cleaning fee | Up to a maximum of $120 | ||
Approved maximum fares – Large Regional areas (effective from 23 September 2024)
Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Large Regional areas of the Urban and Large Regional Zone, including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo – ‘time or distance’ tariffs
| Fare component | Maximum charge | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard fare components | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $4.40 | |
| Distance rate ($/km) (when speed is above 21 km/hr) | $2.245 | |
| Detention rate ($/min) (when speed is below 21 km/hr) | $0.785 | |
| High occupancy trips | ||
| For trips with five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard taxi is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid): not applicable if the commercial passenger vehicle does not have the capacity for carriage of five or more passengers in fixed seats. ‘Fixed seats’ does not include positions for the carriage of persons in wheelchairs. | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $4.40 | |
| Distance rate ($/km) (applies when speed is above 21 km/hr) | $3.421 | |
| Detention rate ($/min) (applies when speed is below 21 km/hr) | $1.198 | |
| Other fare components | ||
| Late night fee (For trips commencing between 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights through to 6am the following morning; and from midnight to 6am on all other days) (a) | $4.15 | |
| Holiday fee (b) | $5.10 | |
| CPV levy recovery fee | Pass-through | |
| CityLink and EastLink tolls (c) | Pass-through | |
| Airport taxi rank fee (d) (For trips from the airport rank) | Pass-through | |
| Cleaning fee | Up to a maximum of $120 | |
Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Large Regional areas of the Urban and Large Regional Zone, including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo – ‘time and distance’ tariffs
| Fare component | Maximum charge | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard fare components | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $4.40 | |
| Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times) | $1.825 | |
| Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times) | $0.600 | |
| High occupancy trips | ||
| For trips with five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard vehicle is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid): not applicable if the commercial passenger vehicle does not have the capacity for carriage of five or more passengers in fixed seats. ‘Fixed seats’ does not include positions for the carriage of persons in wheelchairs. | ||
| Flagfall ($) | $4.40 | |
| Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times) | $3.030 | |
| Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times) | $0.657 | |
| Other fare components | ||
| Late night fee (For trips commencing between 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights through to 6am the following morning; and from midnight to 6am on all other days) (a) | $4.15 | |
| Holiday fee (b) | $5.10 | |
| CPV levy recovery fee | Pass-through | |
| CityLink and EastLink tolls (c) | Pass-through | |
| Airport taxi rank fee (d) (For trips from the airport rank) | Pass-through | |
| Cleaning fee | Up to a maximum of $120 | |
Resources
Final decision and determinations
Feedback on our draft decision
We consulted on the draft decision of our maximum unbooked taxi fare and non-cash payment surcharges review, mostly via Engage Victoria. We received 9 submissions, including 1 confidentially. We considered all relevant feedback when making our final decision.
Consultation paper
Feedback on our consultation paper
We used the Engage Victoria platform to consult on our unbooked taxi fare and non-cash payment surcharge. We received 14 submissions, including 6 confidentially. We considered all feedback in our draft decision.