Dragon Taxis on fare hike in Newport and Torfaen

The move to increase fares is apparently to encourage more drivers to work for the firm after a number of complaints about there not being enough taxis available.

The Argus contacted the taxi firm to ask how much the fares will be increased by and received a statement from Jack Price, the regional director for Dragon Taxis.

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Mr Price said: “Anyone who has booked a taxi in Newport and Torfaen recently will have experienced delays.

“I often hear people say that getting a taxi nowadays is like gold dust.

"The pandemic has resulted in a grave shortage in licensed taxi drivers – some drivers have yet to return, some drivers are driving less and some have left the profession entirely. 

“As drivers are self-employed, we must not forget that the fares they take are their income which was also decimated by COVID, this increase will go directly to them.

“It is also important to note that fares have not materially changed for over a decade. 

“As a licensed operator, we take our responsibilities to the local community very seriously and we want to ensure that more drivers are available to take journeys.

“We want to be able to get the local residents to places on time, without delays. 

“Fares for Dragon journeys during peak times in Newport and Torfaen have therefore been increased – this is to try and boost the number of driver partners available.   

“The driver partners perform an important service, and we hope that our community will see this as a necessary step to get things back to normal.”

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The Argus contacted Dragon Taxis again to ask how much the increase in fares will be exactly, but Dragon Taxis said that they had nothing else to add to Mr Price’s statement.

Dragon Taxis also refused to confirm when they consider peak times to occur.

There have been reports on social media that the taxi firm have added £2 to every journey during peak times.

An alternative post - which appears to be from Dragon Taxi but has not been confirmed as legitimate - states the following:

• An additional £1 between 7.30am and 9am (Monday - Friday)
• An additional £1 between 2.30pm and 5pm (Monday - Thursday) 
• An additional £1 between 12pm and 6pm (Fridays)
• An additional £2 between 10pm and 3am (Fridays and Saturdays)
• An additional 30p at other times