A Dundee taxi firm has assured disabled passengers that “teething problems” which led to one man being refused a discounted fare have now been sorted.
Andrew Kirk, who is visually impaired, hit out at Tele-Taxis after one of its drivers refused to accept his smartcard, which entitles him to discounted travel.
Last night, Tele-Taxis director Dougie Inglis said the problem had been sorted out.
“There’s been a few teething problems at the start but 99% of the problems have been ironed out and most of the passengers have been fine,” he said. “I would want to assure the public that all the problems have been sorted out and there’s not any issues with smartcards now.”
The company recently agreed to a merger with Dundee Private Hire, better known to users as 203020, which holds the city council’s contract for the cards.
Mr Kirk said his discount should now qualify with Tele-Taxis too.
“With the companies merging, the drivers have got to take the number off my card and they can then reclaim off the council,” he said.
Mr Kirk was trying to get a taxi on Tuesday night from outside the Clep Bar.
“The driver refused to take my card,” he said. “I had to go back in and get the guy behind the bar to phone me a 203020 taxi.
“It caused me a lot of bother and I’m really annoyed that the Tele-Taxi drivers are doing this.
“They are claiming the money back off the council anyway so it’s not like they’re not getting paid.”
The concession scheme works by giving people a percentage discount. The maximum subsidy per journey is £2 and for anything up to £4 it is half.
Mr Kirk said: “I’m the one who’s losing out and I’m the one who’s entitled to the discount. If it happens again the taxi driver is going to have his number taken and I’m going to report it to the council.”
ksmyth@thecourier.co.uk