Mandurah Taxis and the state government are at odds over whether the local business owns or leases plates, which affects their hand in the buyback scheme.
Introduced in late 2018, the scheme allows eligible plate owners the opportunity to voluntarily trade in their plates and receive compensation.
That compensation will be funded from a 10 per cent levy, which will be slumped on Perth and Peel operators.
Originally, it was going to be a state-wide levy but following a consultation process, the fee was stripped back to just Perth and Peel.
Read more:
The legislation responds to the rise of ride-sharing services, such as Uber.
Taxi plates have dropped in value by hundreds of thousands of dollars since Uber hit Perth streets in 2014.
The plate buyback scheme was aimed at minimising the loss of investment for owners who wanted to sell their plates back to the government.
Mandurah Taxis business manager Julie Murray has called foul on the state government's reforms to alleviate the blemished industry, stating the new on-demand transport legislation had gypped Peel operators.
Ms Murray told the Mandurah Mail that it was "unfair" her business had to pay, given that Peel was still considered regional.
"Back in November 2017, when the minister first announced her reform package she said that the 10 per cent [levy] would apply state-wide to all taxis operators but only me metropolitan operators would get a buyback. Then they removed the 10 per cent from regional areas but then left it in Peel," she said.
She said it was shameful that Mandurah Taxis would be hit with the levy but not given a chance to apply for the buyback scheme.
From April 1, all operators across Perth and Peel will be required to pay the levy.
According to WA transport minister Rita Saffioti, not all operators will necessarily pass on the full levy to customers.
"The legislation is reducing overheads for the industry, meaning some may choose to absorb the levy to retain a competitive advantage," Ms Saffioti said.
Ms Saffioti said Mandurah Taxis couldn't apply for the buyback because they do not own their plates as Perth operators do.
Ms Murray refuted that statement, stating that Mandurah Taxis brought their plates outright in 2006.
According to the Australian Business Licence and Information Service, taxi plates are available to be bought, sold or leased by individuals or the Department of Transport.
"Taxis plates have been around since the 1930s. Initially they would have been issued back in the day. Then they, brought, sold and traded," Ms Murray said.
"Over time taxi plates, because of the industry it was in, became fairly valuable - just like crayfish licenses.
"In our case, in 2006 we purchased plates for Mandurah Taxis. We loaned a lot of money from the bank. Everyone agreed that was the value of the plates.
"In 2004, Alannah MacTiernan considered that country taxi plates were owned the same as metro. She was going to include them in her 2004 buyback offer. Come early 2018, suddenly from somewhere people have said 'no, you don't own your country taxi plates'.
"We don't know where that information came from. We've been fighting this issue.
"Country taxi owners all around the state have paid significant money to purchase [their] plates."
In 2006, we purchased plates for Mandurah Taxis. We loaned a lot of money from the bank. Everyone agreed that was the value of the plates.
- Mandurah Taxis business manager Julie Murray.
However, Ms Saffioti's office has claimed that Mandurah Taxis brought their plates from an individual company, who had leased them from the department - which means they don't actually own them.
While this debate swelters in the Peel, the Department of Transport are gearing up to begin their next step in the buyback plan.
On February 28, the department will send plate owners an application package for the scheme.
Applications will be open for three months and will need to be made for each respective plate.
According to a spokesman from Ms Saffioti's office, Peel operators will receive some compensation outside the buyback scheme.
However, it is still unclear where that money will come from.
On February 21, Peel Chamber of Commerce and Industry weighed into the debate.
Chamber president Donna Cocking came to the aid of Mandurah Taxis, stating the scheme was disadvantaging the Peel region.
She expressed concerns for the local business and voiced doubt over their ability to "sustain services due to the unfair competition since the advent of Uber".
“We are not a metropolitan area, we are a region with very limited transport services as it is," Ms Cocking said.
"We rely heavily on the 24/7 services of our taxi services that provide more choices and services than Uber at present."
Ms Cocking and Ms Murray said their recent outburst against the scheme came after comments made by Ms Saffioti in a recent GWN interview.
Both women said Ms Saffioti was quoted as stating "regional operators lease their plates, so they will not be compensated like metro operators."
We are not a metropolitan area, we are a region with very limited transport services as it is.
- Peel Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Donna Cocking
They said that statement was simply not true.
"Country taxi plates have been purchased over many, many years exactly the same as metropolitan plates," Ms Murray said.
On behalf of the Peel Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms Cocking even called for an "immediate investigation" into the comments.
However, a spokesman for the minister rebutted those statements and expressed concerns that the station's coverage could have been misleading.
Audio obtained by the Mandurah Mail from the unedited interview revealed the minister's full comments on the matter.
"The regional situation's slightly different to the metropolitan, where the plates were actually bought and sold. In the regions they had a licences system. Now, we understand all the regions, sort of, have unique operations and a unique history," she said in the interview.
It's different to the taxi plate buyback scheme because Peel operators functioned on an annual licence based system.
- WA transport minister Rita Saffioti.
"I understand the concerns of some people in regional WA but during the consultation process there was a couple of options put forward and that was that a levy would apply across the state to provide assistance across the state or that we provide the levy in metropolitan area and the feedback from regional operators was that they wanted the levy to only apply in the Perth and Peel area.
"What we're really wanting to do is to create a level playing field."
Minister Saffioti also pointed out that while Peel operators wouldn't be eligible for the buyback they would receive some compensation.
"An amount of $10,000 is being paid per taxi licence in recognition of the impact on-demand transport operators have had in the Peel region. That funding was included in the last state budget," Ms Saffioti told the Mail.
"However, it is different to the taxi plate buyback scheme because Peel operators functioned on an annual licence based system.
"There may have been instances where an operator bought a business with a taxi licence attached in Peel, but they were not buying a taxi plate, they were purchasing a business."
Have an opinion to share on the issue? Send the Mandurah Mail's editorial team a letter via editor.mandurahmail@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul.
