Taxi owners and operators gathered at the Bermuda Industrial Union last night to discuss reintroducing a Taxi Commission to the island.

Leopold Kuchler, the former president of the Bermuda Taxi Operators Association, criticised Government’s approval of rental minicars for tourists, which he labelled “a dangerous idea”.

Mr Kuchler added that the taxi industry needed to secure “organised, structured and recognised representation” for drivers’ voices to be heard.

As well as forming a Taxi Commission, he urged members of the ailing industry to join the BIU and lobby Government to create a specific Taxi Act, replacing dated and clumsy legislation contained in the Motor Car Act.

“Revenues are going down, and the value of your permits is going down,” he told the assembled group.

“We have a necessity right now, because we are on fire.”