Equality Act 2010

165 Passengers in wheelchairs

(1) This section imposes duties on the driver of a designated taxi which has been hired—

(a) by or for a disabled person who is in a wheelchair, or

(b) by another person who wishes to be accompanied by a disabled person who is in a wheelchair.

(2) This section also imposes duties on the driver of a designated private hire vehicle, if a person within paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) has indicated to the driver that the person wishes to travel in the vehicle.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) a taxi or private hire vehicle is “designated” if it appears on a list maintained under section 167;

(b) “the passenger” means the disabled person concerned.

(4) The duties are—

(a) to carry the passenger while in the wheelchair;

(b) not to make any additional charge for doing so;

(c) if the passenger chooses to sit in a passenger seat, to carry the wheelchair;

(d) to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the passenger is carried in safety and reasonable comfort;

(e) to give the passenger such mobility assistance as is reasonably required.

(5) Mobility assistance is assistance—

(a) to enable the passenger to get into or out of the vehicle;

(b) if the passenger wishes to remain in the wheelchair, to enable the passenger to get into and out of the vehicle while in the wheelchair;

(c) to load the passenger’s luggage into or out of the vehicle;

(d) if the passenger does not wish to remain in the wheelchair, to load the wheelchair into or out of the vehicle.

(6) This section does not require the driver—

(a) unless the vehicle is of a description prescribed by the Secretary of State, to carry more than one person in a wheelchair, or more than one wheelchair, on any one journey;

(b) to carry a person in circumstances in which it would otherwise be lawful for the driver to refuse to carry the person.

(7) A driver of a designated taxi or designated private hire vehicle commits an offence by failing to comply with a duty imposed on the driver by this section.

(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (7) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(9) It is a defence for a person charged with the offence to show that at the time of the alleged offence—

(a) the vehicle conformed to the accessibility requirements which applied to it, but

(b) it would not have been possible for the wheelchair to be carried safely in the vehicle.

(10) In this section and sections 166 and 167 “private hire vehicle” means—

(a) a vehicle licensed under section 48 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976;

(b) a vehicle licensed under section 7 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998;

(c) a vehicle licensed under an equivalent provision of a local enactment;

(d) a private hire car licensed under section 10 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.