Bilking – Making Off Without Payment

The Brighton & Hove Taxi Trade has worked with the council and Sussex Police on Bilking where a passenger has deliberately intended to defraud the taxi driver with no intention to pay for the cab fare.
You may be asked to provide CCTV evidence although we are aware that this may cause inconvenience to you. However we must all make an effort to ensure that those who are intent of defrauding taxi drivers must be stopped.

Although we have the council controlled CCTV in place this is not very convenient in quickly providing the evidence required and there may also be a fee for this. Therefore it is recommended that a dual lens dash cam is also used for your own benefit. An example of this can be found at Here

Please note that you must obtain your own data controller licence to ensure that you fully comply with data protection. This costs £40 and can be obtained via the Information Commissioner at: ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee

There is a witness statement that you need to fill in and provide to Sussex Police at the police station in John Street Brighton.

Witness Statement Download PDF Pack

Any issue with the download please contact Andrew Peters: info@bhcta.co.uk
Please note that there is a difference between intentionally making off without payment and a dispute about the cost of a fare.

If you have been Bilked then you must take the time to report this to the police. This allows for the police to build up a record of repeat offenders and to make it possible to prosecute.
This has resulted in a 'Bilking Sticker' that clearly explains that making off without payment is a criminal offence and not a civil matter.& 80% of the purpose of the sticker is to remind police officers of this.  These stickers are available from some of the local taxi companies for free, or to purchase from Radio Relay.
For all licensed B&H drivers & proprietors & special guests registered as member on trade facebook group