Taxi drivers in Glasgow have been told to accept card payments from next year, after councillors agreed to a phased roll-out of the requirement.
The city's licensing committee approved making it mandatory for taxi drivers to allow the use of credit and debit cards at a meeting on Wednesday.
Any driver granted a new licence or renewal from 1 February 2027 will need to carry a card reader, with licences running for three years. The move comes after more than 80% of respondents to a public consultation backed the proposal.
The council received 1,666 responses, with almost 1,200 from members of the public and just over 250 from taxi driver licence holders.
New licence conditions will state the driver must "accept credit/debit card and contactless payments via a card payment device and provide a printed or handwritten receipt for those payments upon request".
They will also state the driver must ensure a card payment device is "fully working before accepting any fares".
The condition adds: "Should there be a network outage affecting card payment devices or any other technical issue with the working of the card payment device, the driver of a taxi shall inform passengers as soon as they become aware."
Changing habits of passengers
Councillor Alex Wilson, who chairs the licensing committee, welcomed the report saying complaints about lack of card readers for payment in taxis are constant.
Taxi drivers who do not already have a card payment device will need to purchase one, and passengers will still be able to pay by cash if they prefer.
Respondents who supported mandatory card payments said consumer habits have changed and people expect to be able to make non-cash payments.
They also believed the change will reduce wait times at ranks and provide a better service to the public.
Those who disagreed said taxi drivers should be able to choose their payment method as they are self-employed and card payment devices come at a cost.
They also said technology is not always reliable and drivers will be charged a fee or percentage of each transaction.
Concerns were also raised over cards being declined at the end of a trip and members of the public being less likely to tip when using a card.