MyTaxi drivers will be allowed to charge a €2 booking fee from tomorrow.
The company says it is making the change "to align with taxi industry standards."
According to the National Transport Authority fare rules, a booking fee 'may be applied' when a taxi is booked through any means other than hailing on the street or at a taxi rank.
Spokesperson for the National Private Hire Taxi Association, Jim Waldron, says MyTaxi previously asked drivers using its app to waive the fee for customers:
“I would say it was the biggest complaint from drivers to MyTaxi,” he said.
"I am aware that a lot of taxi drivers said that the biggest problem with MyTaxi was that they weren't getting the full fare.
"If you do ten jobs in one day you could be down €20 as opposed to working on a radio, with a radio company issuing you the work."
He said the company had been using the waived fee as a “loss leader” to build up a customer base – adding that drivers had been turning off the act as the amount of available work picked up in recent months.
The NTA last week announced it has approved a general increase to taxi fares from February 1st 2018.
The board approved the proposed increase, which will see fares go up by an average of 3.22%.
