I totally respect your point of view, but I will NEVER accept that dispatchers are vital to the industry.
One major reason alone is, the fact that taxis can operate without them, but they cannot operate without taxis, and inspite of that fact, taxi drivers have over power , and control of THEIR industry, to these would be employers.
As far as I'm concerned, the only function of a taxi dispatch firm is to provide work to the drivers who pay them to do so.
How dare they tell drivers what to charge, what to wear, and this is the one I can NEVER get my head around.
Drivers are paying them to provide work right ,?
I a particular job arises, and the driver doesn't fancy it , (say ) it's haevly discounted, these people actually DISCIPLINE that driver for giving back that job.how dare they do that.
There are two other points I'd make.do you deny that there is constantly work going out the back door to base controllers cronies ?
Point two is the bully boy tactics employed by some of the drivers who work with these companies, to protect the areas they work particularly hotel pickups .I have withness these tactics being used against an independent driver who dared to pick up at a hotel by the drivers of a certain swords based company who continuesly camp illegally in the car parks of a lot of Dublin hotels.there is loads more but what's the point.the NTA enforcement have been aware of it for years ,but will do FA about it