A chat group for taxi operators has disputed claims from Central Dispatch that there has been a rise in unauthorised and illegal booking services in Bermuda.

Central Dispatch, a licensed dispatch company, said this week that entities have operated “outside the legal framework” for years using “apps, WhatsApp, Telegram group, e-mails and other informal methods to assign jobs”.

Neli Outerbridge, general manager of the company, said that the practice “undermines the integrity of the industry, pulls legally signed-up drivers away from their dispatch companies and violates the Motor Car Act”.

The Act stipulates that any dispatch company must have the authority of a valid permit granted by the Public Service Vehicles Licensing Board and must also have the required equipment, which is approved by the minister responsible for transport by order, subject to the negative resolution procedure.

Required equipment under the Act includes a two-way radio set, a mobile data terminal, a global positioning device and an alarm device.

Meanwhile, a “taxi dispatching service” is defined as “the business of directing and controlling the movement of motor taxis by means of instructions issued to the drivers of such taxis".

In November 2022, Shari-Lynn Pringle, a former executive of the Bermuda Taxi Owners and Operators Association, along with Kaiwan Trott, also formerly of the BTOA, launched the Hotels, Restaurant and Cruises chat group, known as HRC, and six months later started Type for a Taxi, its related service for the general public outside of hospitality.

Travellers can open the freeware Telegram app, similar to WhatsApp, click on the relevant chat and type in their travel requirements.

Ms Pringle, who is a taxi driver, told The Royal Gazette that the chat groups “provide taxi operators with a networking tool to assist with transporting people quickly and efficiently”; it is not a commercial entity and is not a dispatcher.

She said: “After 2½ years, it virtually runs itself.

“Central Dispatch are trying to imply that every single job that is dispatched should come through them. This is not only ridiculous but virtually impossible.

“The Motor Car Act is antiquated. The requirements for a dispatch company are antiquated; however, certain entities within Central Dispatch seem to always want to fall back on the Act when trying to claim legal superiority over others.

“They cannot try to employ 21st-century technology then not expect others, especially operators, to do the same when trying to run their own businesses.

“It makes absolutely no sense to pay for something that you can get for free.

“The HRC and Text for a Taxi are simply channels on a technology app that allows drivers to network.

“Government gives dispatch companies a handout annually by requiring that taxis show proof of being signed up to them when relicensing our vehicles.

“It’s up to individual dispatch companies to employ whatever they need to ensure that persons who have signed up are using their service and are paying for their service throughout the year.”

Ms Pringle said that taxis using the chat groups are subscribed to legal dispatchers and that HRC and Type for a Taxi are “simply a 21st-century idea using free technology”.

She added: “We are simply taxi drivers doing what we are required to do by trade — move people quickly and efficiently.

“The HRC is a tool that hotels, restaurants, retailers and the cruise industry can use. However, they can also use a dispatch company.

“If they choose to use the HRC over calling a dispatch company, that is because they are trying to do their job more efficiently and effectively, and the dispatch company is not providing the response they need.”

Central Dispatch claimed that HRC, Type for a Taxi and other entities act as dispatchers, operating outside the legal framework “without a licence and the list of equipment required in the Motor Car Act”.

Speaking after Ms Pringle’s rebuttal, Ms Outerbridge added: “The law is in place so that we don’t arrive to the situation that our industry has been experiencing for at least the last 16 years.

“When you don't follow the law, then the whole integrity of the system is compromised — this is exactly where we are and why we are here.

“All jobs are required to be dispatched by any of the legal dispatching companies and the law explicitly states that anyone who dispatches illegally commits an offence punishable by a $1,400-a-day fine.

“Any driver that is dispatched by any other means also commits an offence punishable by a fine of $1,400 a day.

“Common sense says that we cannot absolutely dispatch every job because some clients ask the driver to pick them up and the driver has the right to oblige the customer.

“That's totally acceptable, but if that customer needs more than one car, then the driver needs to communicate that with dispatch so that dispatch can send the customer the other cars required.”

Ms Pringle said dispatch companies have earned money “hand over foot” from taxi operators, and every year they are assisted by the Government, which requires that every taxi is registered to a dispatch company.

She added: “If we are able to find work through various means that do not include the dispatch company, that is how we choose to conduct our business, and they have no control over that.

“I consistently say the dispatch companies are in a fight with each other. The island is too small for the number of dispatch companies that we have, and we do not need another one.

“The taxi industry has its own set of issues and fighting over the lion’s share of dispatched jobs isn’t one of them.”

Last week, the One Bermuda Alliance called for an increase in the number of taxis in Bermuda as demand outstrips supply.

Dwayne Robinson, the shadow transport minister, said he had spoken with industry stakeholders and that the BTOA, which represents a segment of the industry, recommended issuing more temporary and full taxi permits.

The BTOA announced this month that it is launching the booking platform BTOA Connect, allowing direct access to taxi operators via mobile and web platforms.

In November, Central Dispatch released Ride.bm, an app aimed at modernising transportation hire in Bermuda.

The transport ministry did not respond to questions by press time.