A grace period for taxi drivers who have not yet installed new high-tech equipment into their taxis will soon be over, Government warned yesterday.

Randy Brangman, the Director of the Transport Control Department, would not give an exact date by which taxi drivers must have a GPS system in place, nor would he say whether any penalties would be imposed on those who hadn?t complied.

But he told the grace period was ?drawing to an end? and encouraged drivers to have the equipment installed in their vehicles as soon as possible.

The Government gave cabbies until February 6 to have the vehicle tracking installed under its Motor Car Amendment Act 2005 but said extra time would be allowed for drivers in genuine financial hardship.

Mr Brangman said yesterday: ?TCD has made a conscious effort to work with the taxi industry to ensure the smooth transition of this process.

?We will continue to work with the industry during this period and we have found the high level of compliance encouraging.

?We urge those owners who have not yet fitted out their vehicles with the equipment to do so, as we understand that drivers are already realising the savings on gas, a reduction in the number of lost jobs and dead miles.

?There has been an absence of complaints and we believe this is an excellent indicator of the positive impact the system is having.?

Of the three companies offering GPS to drivers, BTA Dispatching claims to have signed up the most drivers so far.

Company president Michael Ray said he now had close to 400 drivers signed up and 350 cars installed with GPS.

?Not everyone is using it but I feel confident that we are going to have our whole fleet using it very soon. We should have everybody fitted by the end of this month.?

He said customers seemed happy with the change. ?I have heard a couple of minor complaints but I think generally speaking it?s working well. We are happy with our operation, but of course we are always looking to enhance it.?

Radio Cabs, which used to dominate the industry, has signed up 125 drivers and of those, 20 cabs have been installed with GPS with another 50 being done next week.

Owner Edward Darrell said: ?I am pleased with what I have got. But I don?t see anybody wants it. The Government legislated it.?

Alaine Mouchette, president of Co-Op Taxis, said the company had signed up between 80 and 100 drivers and would soon be installing GPS in those cabs.

She said the company may diversify in the future into other forms of fleet management.