Some Dundee taxi drivers claim they lost hundreds of pounds in fares at the weekend when payment technology at electric charging points throughout the city failed.
The situation lasted throughout Saturday and Sunday with drivers only able to finally charge their electric taxis on Monday.
It has been confirmed the problems were caused by issues with the ChargePlace Scotland network.
A taxi drivers union rep in Dundee said many of the city’s taxi drivers contacted him to complain about not being able to charge their vehicles.
He said the union is now seeking compensation on behalf of its members.
Dundee taxi driver ‘couldn’t work all weekend’ due to electric charging fault
One driver told The Courier the issues lost him around £400.
He said: “I was working at the weekend which is a busy time for me and I can expect to get a lot of fares.
“I went to charge my electric taxi on Saturday.
“I went to three charging points – on Princes Street, at Lochee and at Broughty Ferry.
“At all of these points the equipment would not accept my dedicated payment card so I couldn’t charge my taxi.
“This meant I couldn’t work at all at the weekend and as a result I reckon I lost at least £400 in taxi fares.
“If the charging points aren’t working it has a major impact on taxi drivers being able to work – I ended up sitting at home not able to earn a penny.”
He said he attempted to use his own bank card to get electricity.
He said: “It took £20 off my card but failed to give me any charge and I’m now personally out of pocket – I have been asking for my money to be refunded but so far I have received nothing back.”
City taxi drivers lose thousands of pounds
Unite taxi rep Chris Elder said several drivers contacted him about the situation at the weekend.
He added: “I have had numerous complaints about this.
“It seems a great number of our drivers had the same problem and couldn’t charge their vehicles at the weekend.
“It appears that their payment cards weren’t being accepted but I have also been told that some of the chargers just weren’t working and not charging cars.
“I would estimate that thousands of pounds were lost to city taxi drivers at the weekend because of this.
“No matter what the cause, if drivers can’t charge their electric taxis they can’t work and don’t earn.
“This is another example of the problems being faced by city taxi drivers as they have to convert to all-electric vehicles.”
Chris said he is seeking compensation for his members and has asked for a meeting with representatives of ChargePlace Scotland.
‘Performance issue’ not resolved until Monday
Stephen Trayner, customer service director for Evolt Charging, said: “At the weekend, we did, unfortunately, experience a performance issue on the ChargePlace Scotland network, with some system communications dropping out unexpectedly.
“This resulted in the network authenticating and app charging sessions at a reduced capacity.
“Our development and technical operations teams were notified and worked throughout the weekend to investigate and stabilise.
“Following multiple strands of investigation, an associated system that supplies a connection within our charge point communications was identified as the root cause.
“The issue was resolved early Monday morning.
“We fully recognise that the impact was negative and unwelcome and apologise for the inconvenience caused to members and users in the affected period.”
He said that chargers in Dundee, while impacted by the network issue, remained “powered on” at all times.
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