DO Licensing Review

[Rat Catcher]

https://consult.nationaltransport.ie/en/content/call-inputs-dispatch-operators

Call For Inputs - Dispatch Operators

10 Mar, 2026, 15:00 - 17 Apr, 2026, 12:31

The requirements on dispatch operators in Ireland were last set in 2015, prior to the increase in popularity of  app-based providers. As a result, all dispatch operators in Ireland are subject to the same regulatory requirements, regardless of how they connect with passengers (in person, phone or app) or how many drivers choose to work with them: some dispatch operators having a small number of local drivers and others having thousands nationwide.

To ensure the regulatory framework remains suitable for passenger needs and the sustainability of an evolving SPSV marketplace with technological changes, the NTA is now seeking views on the role of dispatch operators in Ireland and how they should be regulated. 

The first stage in this process is to hear the views of passengers and interested stakeholders through this Call for Inputs. In the document below, the NTA has set out a number of sample questions for respondents to provide feedback across a range of relevant topics such as customer experience, accessibility, safety and competition and costs. The NTA will consider all responses received and expects to follow up this Call for Inputs with a consultation on dispatch operator regulations later in 2026.

Call For Inputs Period

Submissions for the Call for Inputs are open until 5pm on 17 April.

Documents

SPSV Dispatch Operator Regulation: Call for Inputs

https://consult.nationaltransport.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/webform/23437/SPSV%20Dispatch%20Operator%20Call%20For%20Inputs%20Document%20pdf.pdf

[silverbullet]

https://consult.nationaltransport.ie/en/content/call-inputs-dispatch-operators

Call For Inputs - Dispatch Operators

10 Mar, 2026, 15:00 - 17 Apr, 2026, 12:31

The requirements on dispatch operators in Ireland were last set in 2015, prior to the increase in popularity of  app-based providers. As a result, all dispatch operators in Ireland are subject to the same regulatory requirements, regardless of how they connect with passengers (in person, phone or app) or how many drivers choose to work with them: some dispatch operators having a small number of local drivers and others having thousands nationwide.

To ensure the regulatory framework remains suitable for passenger needs and the sustainability of an evolving SPSV marketplace with technological changes, the NTA is now seeking views on the role of dispatch operators in Ireland and how they should be regulated. 

The first stage in this process is to hear the views of passengers and interested stakeholders through this Call for Inputs. In the document below, the NTA has set out a number of sample questions for respondents to provide feedback across a range of relevant topics such as customer experience, accessibility, safety and competition and costs. The NTA will consider all responses received and expects to follow up this Call for Inputs with a consultation on dispatch operator regulations later in 2026.

Call For Inputs Period

Submissions for the Call for Inputs are open until 5pm on 17 April.

Documents

SPSV Dispatch Operator Regulation: Call for Inputs

https://consult.nationaltransport.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/webform/23437/SPSV%20Dispatch%20Operator%20Call%20For%20Inputs%20Document%20pdf.pdf

Got that meself.

[Rat Catcher]

What time? It says 15:00 on it but I only received it at 17:30.

[silverbullet]

What time? It says 15:00 on it but I only received it at 17:30.

17.22, but you're out in the sticks!

[Rat Catcher]

I would have seen it quicker if you posted it on here.

[watty]

Read it and weep:

When using an app to request an SPSV service, the passenger will justifiably consider the journey as a
‘single purchase’. However, using a dispatch operator involves two separate commercial
engagements: (1) booking a journey via a dispatch operator; and (2) undertaking that journey via an
SPSV driver. While there are two commercial engagements taking place, the passenger will not be
concerned as to the intricacies of the commercial relationship between the dispatch operator and the
driver. The NTA's primary concern in relation to costs faced by passengers is that the amount charged
in overall terms is both fair and transparent, and in the case of taxis (as distinct from hackneys and
limousines) compliant with the regulated maximum fare. Passengers, as consumers, should have
clarity on the transaction they are entering into – both when entering into it and in terms of available
records subsequently.

We're fukked.  Surge pricing might be banned but we're on our own when it comes to sky-high commission.  They'll argue that 'supply and demand' among many apps will sort out the commission.  But, a bit like our bin service, all the apps will somehow land on the same extortionate % 

Doomed, we are!

[Rat Catcher]

Surge pricing being banned mightn't be a good thing either. Free Now is the only one that currently uses surge pricing in Ireland but is also the one with the highest rate of commission. How much higher will commission go if they have to recoup the millions of euros they currently scam from rock stars and TV stars of a dark evening?

[Rat Catcher]

... but remember this is an input process not the usual predetermined consultation nonsense. That'll come later... so tell them what you want and what you don't want.

[watty]

... While there are two commercial engagements taking place, the passenger will not be concerned as to the intricacies of the commercial relationship between the dispatch operator and the driver. The NTA's primary concern in relation to costs faced by passengers is that the amount charged in overall terms is both fair and transparent, and in the case of taxis (as distinct from hackneys and limousines) compliant with the regulated maximum fare.

I used surge pricing as a catch-all for the passenger side of the equation.  They're gonna make sure the passenger ends up happy and to hell with us.

They barely mention the meter pricing review process but they don't square the circle how they can devise a fare structure that puts food on our tables but it's perfectly ok for the apps to take 20-30% of that money.  They're stealing my chips!  'Competition via pricing' is a few quid here and there, not taking a samurai sword to a third of our earnings...

[Rat Catcher]

Their response to date has been that you don't have to work for the rideshare platforms. There's no magic wand though, the maximum fare was only ever a maximum intended to protect passengers. If they expressed a minimum as a % of the maximum it'd just encourage riders to shop around for that minimum so the minimum would become the norm even in the big cities where the maximum is currently the established norm.

[watty]

I dunno.  I think we're missing a trick if we go along with all this talk about pricing.  We're letting the pub owners and apps control the narrative.  We're at the luxury end of the transport spectrum, offering personalised door-to-door transport in new(-ish) vehicles.  A quarter of the fleet is WAT and the EV portion is catching up very quickly.  That costs money, as established by the last 70 page NTA fare review.  If pricing was the only metric in life, people wouldn't wear Levi jeans or go to the fancy pubs for expensive pints.

If they want to make it price-only, fair enough.  Scrap the exam, the annual LRA, 'professional' insurance and the 10 year rule and make the only criteria to become a taxi driver a mobile phone.  And a car (borrowed from your mammy or otherwise).  They should be careful what they wish for!

[Rat Catcher]

If you pop out of D4 for an afternoon you'll see huge big buildings with names like Dunnes Stores and Pennys on them! Yes, folk will pay Temple Bar prices for beer in Temple Bar but there's not many pubs outside of the big cities that would last long charging those rates.

Where NTA went wrong was extending the Dublin Taximeter area nationwide. As a maximum it works as it still allows ex-hackneymen serve their traditional markets and it allows firms adapt to varied conditions e.g. many firms/drivers will have set fares for locals/regulars but might charge others the maximum permissible rate. Similarly the last recession would have cost a lot more men their businesses if they were forced to charge the maximum rates.

Restricting taxis to the luxury end of the market might be a workable solution but there'd have to be some accommodation for those serving the "necessity" end of the market. I don't think there's a need to go as far as you suggest in allowing unlicensed P2P services. It might make more sense to lift the current temporary moratorium on the issue of saloon hackney plates to achieve a comprehensive licensed service, perhaps in conjunction with restricting taxis to vehicles under 3yo. The entrance exam is neither here nor there these days, it only serves as an artificial barrier to entry, we all have Google maps.

[Rat Catcher]

Anywaysanall, 62 half-witted morons queuing at DAP to pay Free Now 20% commission plus the €3 DAA fee when I passed it on my way home this evening, c.22:34. You could be right... We're doomed!

[watty]

I'll have to get out me thesaurus I'm not picking the write words like.  By luxury, I don't mean opulent or top of the range.  It's more a premium choice - people can walk, bicycle, bus, luas, car etc before you get to taxis.  In pub terms, you can get choose cans, Weatherspoons, your local shithole and then the premium pubs that sell food etc.

We should be fighting our corner not by fighting on the pub owner's hill (price) but reminding people we're not a bus or bicycle.  We offer a bespoke premium service.  If you get a taxi, one experienced driver with chauffeur you door-to-door with minimal fuss.  You can choose silence, the radio or 'the chat', depending on your mood.  If you have a bluetooth phone, the driver will probably let you play your own music.  Want a saloon, an EV, a WAT, no problem.  Want a female driver, no problem-ish.

It's a long time since I bought a suit but you used to be able to go into Boyers and get a suit off the rails for €100.  You couldn't walk into Louis Copeland and get a fitted suit for the same.  Bespoke, premium service.  It just so happens there's a lot of taxis so we're a bit more visible than premium tailors.

[Rat Catcher]

Indeed... and not everyone requires a bespoke service. A lot of folk just want to get from A to B. As a bespoke service there ought to some form of quality control. If you turned up at a car hire desk and they gave you the keys to a clapped out 16 year old Prius or clapped out 28 year old converted commercial vehicle you'd tell them where to shove it.

Prior to entry liberalisation you wouldn't find a taxi (or a bus lane!) beyond Dublin Airport. We had a vibrant hackney service driven by men that served their communities, providing a real alternative to car ownership including in areas with scant bus services. A local hackney fare in Swords, for example, was less than the initial charge on the Dublin taximeter and there were no hidden extras for additional passengers or luggage or a few minutes waiting or whatever. Many drivers and firms have maintained those services to varying degrees despite hackney cabs being replaced with taxis and, in particular during the last recession, it is that dedication to their communities that kept them in business and allowed the stereotypical bachelor living on a remote smallholding access to social intercourse once or twice a year. That's a market that still exists and ought not be ignored. It mightn't be to the fore while rideshare platforms are heavily subsidising fares or, indeed, while money is plentiful but neither of those will last forever.

You might think... well fuck the rural drivers, I know my city clients will pay whatever I demand... but you need to consider what those rural drivers will do if you  allow your greed to fuck up their trade - although, to be fair, the rideshare platforms are likely to do that to some extent regardless. With a national fare and access to rideshare platforms drivers can work wherever they want - I'm sure you've heard the Drawda men whinging about Dublin scum descending on their discos on weekend nights - so they'll just drive up to Dublin and compete with the bespoke clapped out 16 year old Priuseyeisis and bespoke 56 year old clapped out converted commercial vehicles for your bespoke work. You should also bear in mind that once the rideshare platforms stop subsidising your bespoke service one of two things will happen, either drivers will do the work for the fares being charged by the rideshare platforms or demand will significantly decrease. I know you don't recognise such economic theories as the price elasticity of demand but, believe me, there's a reason the rideshare platforms offer discounts and there will be consequences when they stop financing those discounts through subsidies.