Taxi Drivers issued with new forms of identification

The Commission for Taxi Regulation is to issue all taxi drivers with dashboard ID and a “smartcard” which will show a photograph, name of drivers, licence number and expiry of licence. The smartcard, which will be the size of a credit card, will also contain a microchip allowing the commission's enforcement team to electronically read it and check the taxi driver's identity and licence status. As well as these two identifications the taxi drivers will also be provided with a portable photo ID as well. The rollout of new forms of identification for taxi drivers began this week in Carlow and Kildare.

Last October the Commission for Taxi Regulation requested that all taxi drivers remove their existing dashboard identifications, which often contains their photo identification as well. They had to collect 41,000 licences. Fine Gael Senator Brian Hayes has expressed concern about the absence of photo identification in taxis at the moment, while the commission is replacing the old IDs with the new.  

“Entering another person's car carries a certain amount of risk, and passengers used to take reassurances from the dashboard identification”.

The Commission for Taxi Regulation said: “ Drivers have still been required to wear their driver badge whilst driving as a means of identification.”

They said they have proceeded with the replacement IDs “as expediently as possible” on a county to county basis.