A NEW law to protect disabled taxi passengers from being overcharged still doesn’t apply across the whole of Wales as several councils haven’t made the right preparations, according to disability activist research.

Only half of councils across the region have created so-called Section 167 lists, which are needed to hold taxi drivers to account if they discriminate against disabled passengers.

Ceredigion County Council offers guidance to drivers but does not have a technically compliant list or fulfil other criteria.

A change in the Equality Act in April last year means that taxi drivers would face a fine of up to £1,000 if they refuse to transport wheelchair users or attempt to charge them extra.

But the rules only apply to vehicles listed on Section 167 lists, which councils need to create. Many haven’t done so despite a government-recommended deadline of October 2017.

The research lays bare the complex problems around the law change, with many councils confused as to their obligations and the public unsure of their rights.

No-one outside of London has attempted to use the law to hold taxi drivers to account for overcharging, ignoring or otherwise discriminating against disabled taxi passengers.

Morvenna Richards, a powerchair user from Cardigan, said: “Taxi companies overcharging disabled people is pure discrimination. When it happened to me, I was on my way home from the cinema with a good friend and I had a smile on my face because we had had such a lovely time.

“But it was all ruined by a disagreement with the taxi driver over price.

“Companies should not be allowed to get away with this, and the Department for Transport needs to act. Disabled people have enough to deal with as it is; we do not have the energy or the time to be worrying about taxi companies overcharging. We are people, and we just want to be treated equally.”

Muscular Dystrophy UK is calling for the Department for Transport to make the lists mandatory, arguing that the current system has proved unworkable.

Nic Bungay, Director of Campaigns, Care and Information at Muscular Dystrophy UK, which lobbied for years for the law change, said:

“Taxis are often the only way that disabled people can get from A to B when public transport isn’t an option but the new legislation simply isn’t working to help ensure they can do so safely and fairly.

“Passengers, taxi drivers and councils alike are crying out for clearer guidance, and we need to see the taxi lists made mandatory, to make this well-intentioned law workable.”

Research by Muscular Dystrophy UK in 2016 indicated that a quarter of disabled people have been refused service by a taxi driver, purely because they are disabled.