The NSW Treasurer, Minister for Transport and Roads, and Regional Minister for Transport and Roads today announced a $12.6 million financial stimulus package for the taxi industry, in response to COVID-19.
The table below gives a breakdown of the available assistance and a summary of who is eligible. Full details of the eligibility criteria are available on our dedicated COVID-19 webpage.
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Point to point transport service provider |
Support |
Who’s eligible? [summary only] |
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Registered owners of Wheelchair Accessible Taxis |
$2,900 per registered WAT (to cover six months of the cost of CTP insurance and vehicle registration)
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Registered owners of Taxis other than WATs |
$2,900 per eligible taxi (to cover six months of the cost of CTP insurance and vehicle registration) |
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Eligible taxi licence holders |
A 50 per cent waiver of the annual taxi licence fee payable in financial year 2019/20 |
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All authorised service providers |
Waiver of the first $500 of authorisation fees per service provider for 2018/19 financial year |
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Under the stimulus package, a registered taxi vehicle owner (the person or company that appears on the registration certificate), including a WAT vehicle owner, may be eligible for a $2,900 subsidy per taxi.
There will no longer be an application process through Service NSW. Instead, a subsidy cheque of $2,900 will be sent to registered Taxi and WAT owners who are eligible in response to COVID-19.
Please note: This subsidy will be automatically paid to eligible registered taxi operators. There is no need to apply.
It is a condition of this payment that you keep the taxi registered for 6 months from the date of receiving this support payment. If you de-register your vehicle, you may need to repay this support payment.
Taxi licence holders who may be eligible for a waiver of 50 per cent of their annual taxi licence fee will be contacted by the Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s office.
The first $500 payable of the 2018/19 financial year authorisation fees will be waived, and will be automatically applied for all authorised service providers.
Are you eligible? Find out from the flowchart below.
Additional Available Industry Support
In addition to the $12.6M government’s industry assistance package detailed above, the following industry assistance is also available:
- No CPI increase to authorisation fees for 2019/20 Financial Year
In addition to the first $500 waived from the authorisation fees for financial year 2018/2019, authorisation fees will not be increased for financial year 2019/2020. Instead, the fees payable for the financial year 2019/2020 will be the same as those specified for financial year 2018/2019.
- Repayment Deferral for the Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Interest Free Loan Scheme
In response to the changes in the way people are travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic and in recognition of the role Wheelchair Accessible Taxis (WAT) play in delivering essential transport services for vulnerable members of the community, Transport for NSW is deferring payments on all Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Interest Free loans. For loan recipients, payments will be $0 for April, May and June 2020.
Learn more on our dedicated COVID-19 webpage: Business support and advice
- Free vehicle sanitisation for all point to point vehicles
The safety of passengers and drivers is our top priority. We now have two sites offering taxis, rideshare and hire vehicles complimentary once-per-vehicle-per-day sanitisation.
This free government-funded initiative is live in Sydney metro at the TAXITECH facility in Alexandria, and at Dubbo Buslines in Dubbo. More sites are expected to launch across the state soon.
Learn more on our dedicated Sanitisation Stations webpage.
The support package will provide operators with some financial relief during the COVID-19 shutdown and help taxis remain on the road.
For more information call the Industry Contact Centre on 131 727.