The taxi industry says the value of taxi licences has plummeted after the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing impact of ride sharing platforms. 

It’s reported a standard licence would sell for around $500,000 in 2014, down to $16,000 this month.

Chief executive of Taxi Council of Queensland, Blair Davies, said it was a distressing situation for some.

“Probably prior to the pandemic we saw the licences drop away to $100,000 and they sort of sat around that number, and then during the pandemic, we along with Uber and everyone else in the local transport market saw our businesses crater.

“Taxi licences are a function of the taxi business, licenses dropped away significantly again.

“Anyone looking to sell their taxi licences at the moment is probably not going to get a very high price for it.

“And the reason for that is, buyers know they can get a bargain if they can and buyers can’t get finance from banks, so there’s a double whammy there for people that own licenses, they’re almost obliged to hold onto their licenses at the moment and it’s a distressing thing for some.”

Paul Scaini CEO of the Queensland Taxi Licence Owners Association, said ride sharing services had had a huge impact.

“The problem lies in the fact that we now have 20,000 vehicles in Brisbane, doing the job of what used to be done by 3,000 and the framework that underpins Queensland’s personal transportation industry not allowing for viability.”

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