A bill to force cab drivers to have their GPS systems switched on was labelled repressive, intrusive and unconstitutional by the Opposition United Bermuda Party yesterday.

But Government argued it was simply insisting on the best technology to improve services to the public.

A law making GPS mandatory in cabs came into effect in February 2006.

But many drivers are not using the system and are still relying on radios to get jobs.

So Government has made it an offence not to have working GPS. And using other systems to pick up rides — such as radios — will be banned.

Premier Ewart Brown said the technology would allow TCD to get statistics monitoring the average number of trips made by each car per day, the number of hours each taxi worked, the number of trips requested and the most used pick-up points.

With those figures service could be further improved said Dr. Brown. Opposition Transport spokesman Shawn Crockwell said GPS was not improving response times.

"Why not allow the industry to have the option of using GPS or voice, that's free enterprise," he said.

With GPS already installed in all cabs and drivers paying monthly fees to have it there Mr. Crockwell wondered why further compulsion was necessary — if GPS was as good as Government believed then it would eventually win out, he argued.

And he claimed around 20 drivers had switched from BTA Dispatching, which uses GPS heavily, to Radio Cabs because they found radios were more user-friendly.

Mr. Crockwell said customers were not happy with the new system. "I have been told people still wait the same amount of time as they did for many years."

Mr. Crockwell wondered why minibuses and service limos weren't being compelled to use the technology but cabs were — even though GPS systems tried to send drivers in Spanish Point to jobs in Dockyard because they were deemed close because the technology didn't take into account Bermuda's geography.

"That is a deficiency, that is why we are saying why not have a choice?," said Mr. Crockwell.

He added that Government should be giving the taxi drivers a hand given the rising fuel costs which meant drivers were forking out $65 a day on gas.

Instead Government was looking for more ways to be punitive said Mr. Crockwell who added: "When Government fear the people, that's called democracy. When people fear the Government, that's called tyranny."

UBP colleague Mark Pettingill said the bill was unconstitutional in that it impinged on property rights in that it would ban taxi drivers from using radios.

It also interfered with the right of association by stopping a group of people associated by radio use, said Mr. Pettingill.

Former Opposition leader Grant Gibbons said he believed GPS was more about collecting data than improving service. "If it's a data collecting exercise then surely Government should be paying for that?"

He said the medical professionals mantra was 'first do no harm' but he added: "Not only is this legislation not very effective but it's very close to putting one of the taxi dispatching companies out of business."

And he said with this over-regulation taxi drivers would also be likely to look for other ways to make a living.

Government Telecommunications Minister Terry Lister said radio was "yesterday's idea" and people were forgetting that the point of the legislation was to improve services for customers who would be increasing as more hotels came on line.

He added: "I cannot understand how it is over-regulation to say you must have GPS but it isn't over-regulation to say you must have radio which was the case in the 1980s and 1990s."

He said the UBP had insisted on radios in their day because it was the most modern technology at the time — now the PLP government were doing the same thing by insisting on GPS.

Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards insisted that governments could not legislate technology and said GPS should be allowed to compete with the old technology. "If it's superior, it will succeed," he said.

Mr. Richards claimed Bermuda had a "dysfunctional taxi industry". He said: "It's dysfunctional to its core," adding that it was an unattractive trade for young Bermudians.

Opposition MP Wayne Furbert suggested that if taxi operators knew turning on GPS would make them money, they would do it. He queried whether not having it turned on needed to be made an offence. "What are the ramifications?" he asked.

Environment Minister El James, himself a former taxi owner, said GPS had cut waiting times for customers from about 40 minutes to less than five.

"The local customer is benefiting because now there is some credibility," he said. Responding to an earlier claim from the Opposition that the arrival of GPS had forced Sandys Taxi Service out of business, he said: "Sandys had struggled for the last 20 years. Why? For reasons (of) bad management."

United Bermuda Party Whip John Barritt said he found it "repugnant" to make not switching GPS on an offence and suggested that the need for the legislation pointed to bad relations between Government and the taxi industry.

But Government MP Michael Scott refuted that, saying it was simply regulation of the industry and would enhance freedom of movement. "I can't think of a more wise set of regulatory policies," he said.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin described the $1,400 fine for taxi drivers who failed to turn on their GPS system as "punitive".

"This punitive measure is a substantial amount of money in terms of revenue earned and what a taxi driver has to pay out," she said.

"It concerns us when you talk about coming up with a fine of $1,400 if someone hasn't turned on their equipment, and this fine is for every day the offence is committed."

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said: "We are seeing no information and two to three years after the fact and implementation of this technology, we are now seeing the Government forcing this on the taxi drivers whether they like it or not.

"We just expect them to perform and I'm just not sure this is the best way to foster a good working relationship between the Government and private industry."

Referring back to Mr. Pettingill's comments, Premier Dr. Ewart Brown said: "I don't believe in the long run there will be a constitutional issue in regards to this legislation."

Dr. Brown said: "Most of the drivers I talk to use the GPS to their benefit and patrons say they get a service quicker now. The previous system was archaic in terms of finding jobs."

He added: "The $1,400 fine is a deterrent. I doubt any operator will pay that fine simply because they don't want to turn on their system."

The Motor Car Amendment (No. 3) Act 2008 was passed by a vote of 18 to 14 of MPs.