Taxi drivers protesting outside South Cambridgeshire District Council's office (Image: Nasir Uddin) Group 28
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protests from taxi drivers across Cambridge about the installation of mandatory CCTV in their taxis , Cambridge City Council have said they are considering pushing back the deadline. Drivers gathered outside South Cambridgeshire District Council's headquarters in Cambourne on Wednesday, March 15, to protest the new requirement. In an announcement Cambridge City Council said taxi driver "concerns" have led them to consider pushing back the date that taxi drivers in Cambridge will have to install new CCTV devices in their vehicles, from April to September, 2023. A spokesperson said: “Following concerns from the taxi trade about the timescales for implementation, a decision will be made at Monday’s Licensing Committee on recommendations to postpone the need to install CCTV until September.” From April 2023, all taxi drivers applying to Cambridge City Council for a licence will be required to have CCTV installed in their vehicles. Some taxi drivers in the city have already said they will consider taking legal action against plans for CCTV in their cars . Read more: Hundreds rally as Cambridge taxi drivers protest new CCTV rules Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire Council are responsible for licensing all Hackney carriage, private hire and dual drivers, as well as taxi proprietors and operators in Cambridge. A spokesperson for Cambridge City Council added: “Installing CCTV in taxis and private hire vehicles licensed in Cambridge will be a boost to safety for both customers and drivers. “As taxi licensing authority, the council has a number of objectives, including the safety and protection of the public, vehicle safety, prevention of crime and protection of drivers – all of which will help to be met by the installation of CCTV in the vehicles it licenses. Introducing CCTV for all licensed vehicles will also ensure there is supporting evidence for any criminal or enforcement investigations into customers’ or drivers’ actions or behaviour while the vehicles are operational." Ahmed Karaahmed, Chairman of Cambridge City Licenced Taxis, said that with one CCTV supplier in Cambridge and more than a thousand taxis to kit out, the April deadline was "never realistic". He said: “A week to go there would will be hundreds of vehicles that will need CCTV to be implemented. "There is only one provider in Cambridge who is able to do that, and they have written to Panther taxis to say they don’t have enough cameras to fit into the taxis. Most cameras are Chinese make and model, there are government guidelines saying that no
UK company should be using Chinese make and model of CCTV in sensitive public areas.” According to a survey conducted by the Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner on February 15 2023,
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