There have been complaints from Victorian taxi drivers who claim that their Booking Service Provider (BSP) has collected the last quarter's $1 Trip Levy, but to date has not forwarded this onto the State Revenue Office (SRO), nor refunded the drivers. We have asked the SRO to advise how it is ensuring that BSPs are refunding the collected levy money to the drivers? The SRO has not responded.

On July 29, 2020 Department of Transport (DoT) representative Peter Bon, presented (online) the $22m CPV Industry Support package to industry stakeholders.

To date only 2 parts of the package have been implemented — the $1 Trip Levy refund (actioned by State Revenue Office) and the alterations to the MPTP scheme (actioned by CPVV).

Peter Bon advised at this meeting that the "DoT’s objective is to prioritise and facilitate these grants as soon as possible". He also stated "It is DoT’s intention to work with the industry in obtaining information to ensure quick delivery of the support programs."

Department of Transport (DoT) conducted a presentation on Wednesday 23 September for industry stakeholders, and we have questions. So many questions, that we have emailed them to DoT for answers, answers which we are yet to receive.

$3.5m Cleaning and Sanitisation grants for regional and metro BSPs -- 

-> How is giving money to BSPs to be used in the future, supporting the CPV industry during the COVID-19 crisis?

Department of Transport (DoT) conducted a presentation on Wednesday 23 September for industry stakeholders, and we have questions. So many questions, that we have emailed them to DoT for answers, answers which we are yet to receive. 

$3.5m Cleaning and Sanitisation grants for regional and metro BSPs --

1. What constitutes a Major BSP?
2. Do we presume correctly that the Major BSPs are 13cabs, Silver Top Taxis, Black & White Cabs, Crown Cabs, Ballarat Taxis, Bendigo Taxis, Geelong Taxis and Uber?

Many of the drivers/operators believe that they will be receiving funding assistance to the tune of $250 per operator and that they will be entitled to any extra funds – i.e. if the BSP was only charging $120 per month, the driver believes that he/she is entitled to be refunded $130 from the BSP.
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1. Is Department of Transport (DoT) going to inform the drivers and operators exactly how the Depot Fee subsidy will be working?
2. What constitutes a Large BSP?
3. Do we presume correctly that the Large BSPs are 13cabs, Silver Top Taxis, Black & White Cabs, Crown Cabs, Ballarat Taxis, Bendigo Taxis and Geelong Taxis?

Representatives from TAA were at the CPV Industry briefing on Wednesday morning. We were given an update on vehicle cleaning standards, cleaning audits and how the government’s roadmap affects our industry. There are new resources available on the CPVV website regarding the cleaning standards and there are also a couple of training videos for drivers to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDfYB4DNtrw&feature=youtu.be
and
https://www.drvrtraining.com/courses/hygiene-for-drivers

Victoria's Department of Transport has announced the details of this subsidy which will provide grants to support regional BSPs in ensuring vulnerable regional Victorians, including the elderly or those with a disability, retain access to CPV services.

This funding will provide grants to support SMALL BSPs that primarily service regional areas.

Grants on offer will be between $3,000 to $12,000.

Payments will be scaled according to the size of the BSP and the circumstances in the regional area.

Victoria's Department of Transport has announced the details of this grant.

Eligibility
All BSPs, including operators/drivers who are exempt from registering as a BSP with CPVV due to only operating 1 or 2 vehicles, ARE ELIGIBLE to apply for a Cleaning Support Grant.

CPV owners and drivers whose vehicle receives bookings through a BSP are NOT ELIGIBLE for this grant, as your BSP has been told to support you through the grant that they will receive.

Victoria's Department of Transport has announced the details of this subsidy. All BSPs that have at least one WAV in their fleet will receive this subsidy. In turn the BSPs must share this subsidy with all owners and drivers who are associated with them for the months of August, September and October. This is to be done through reduced depot/association fees.

BSPs will receive a $250 subsidy for the number of active vehicles that they had active during June 2020. This money will be paid for 3 months, representing August, September and October.

The $22m CPV Industry Assistance Package is a very welcomed offer of financial relief to the Operators and Booking Service Providers.

There are 2 parts of this package that have been actioned:

1. the alterations to the MPTP scheme (which is automatically happening) and
2. the refund of the $1 trip levy paid. The entity who paid the levy simply needs to log into their State Revenue Office portal and select for it to be refunded.