Cork taxi driver in the trade for 42 years appeals revocation of licence for refusing to accept card payments

A taxi driver who faces the loss of his taxi licence for refusing to accept card payments came to court today to appeal against the revocation and the presiding judge asked the state to consider the proportionality of its response in effectively taking away the man’s livelihood.

Judge Mary Dorgan said the state was issuing fixed penalty notices on William Wyse of Onslow Gardens, Commons Road, Cork, where there were complaints of him not accepting card payments in his taxi. 

But the judge questioned the proportionality of the state’s response in going further and revoking the taxi driver’s licence as well.

The judge adjourned the appeal until November 28 for submissions from the state to see if the matter could be resolved without taking the licence from a man who has been in the taxi trade for 42 years.

The crux of the matter is that Mr Wyse refuses to have a bank account and this makes it impossible for him to take card payments in his taxi. He has signs up in his taxi to say he takes cash only. And he said at Cork District Court that he tells every passenger sitting in to his car that it is cash only.

While the judge said that anybody could take the view that they did not want to have a bank account, the regulations required taxi drivers to take card payments. 

The judge said she presumed the rational behind the regulations was to allow for people to get home safely by tapping their payment when they had run out of cash late at night.

While the judge invited the state to be ‘proportionate’ in its response to Mr Wyse, she did add as an aside to Mr Wyse when she adjourned the case, “It would be great in the meantime if you got an old bank account because that would sort it out.” 

Garda Conor McDermot said the regulations required that taxi drivers would accept payment by card but added, “We have tried everything we can to try to get Mr Wyse to comply with the regulations.” 

The judge did say to Mr Wyse during the hearing that anyone could decide not to have a bank account, “but if you are a taxi driver you have to have a bank account to facilitate cashless payments.” 

Mr Wyse said that since the financial crash he had no bank account, post office account or credit union account since 2010. He has two functioning card machines in his taxi but cannot use them in the absence of a bank account. 

Among a number of arguments against taking card payments he said there was discrimination against taxis because in some other modes of public transport cash payments were allowed and bank card payments were not.

The National Transport Authority previously stated, “It is a legal requirement for each taxi to have a functioning cashless payment device and for drivers to accept cashless payments. The law was introduced on 1st September 2022 At one stage during the hearing at Anglesea Street courthouse this afternoon he said that if he won the Lotto the millions would have to go into his wife’s bank account. To laughter in court, Judge Dorgan said that had gone on the record now.