TAXI COMPANY FREENOW are set to add an additional €1 to the price of every taxi journey in August.

The company announced the price increase in an email to customers this afternoon, saying that it would be a new €1 “technology fee”.

“A technology fee of €1 will apply to all taxi trips booked and successfully completed via the FREE NOW app,” reads the email.

“These updates will allow us to continue to invest in improving FREE NOW’s technology and app quality.”

The price hike comes as taxi fares are set to increase by an average of 12% from 1 September, following the decision by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to up the prices due to increased operating costs.      

Under the new taxi fare structure, the standard initial charge will increase from €3.80 to €4.20.

During premium periods – between 8pm and 8am, Sundays and public holidays – the initial charge will go from €4.20 to 4.80.

Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond hit out at the price increase, saying that he doesn’t understand the move to raise costs for customers.

“At a time when the NTA are preparing to increase fares is, when only 28% of taxi drivers are working out at peaks, when there’s huge problems getting a taxi at the airport and when we have reports of pre booked fares consistently dropping off app’s like FreeNow – I struggle to see how lumping another charge on customers is a good move,” Richmond told The Journal.

“Faith in the taxi sector is at a low point at the moment, especially in Dublin, people want to solutions to problems not moves that will simply increase prices.

“It would be much better if FreeNow were working on cutting costs for customers and encouraging drivers to go out at peak times rather than making up charges.”

Richmond called for additional taxi licences to be issued by the NTA and for the cost of licences to be cut, alongside adding additional 24 hour bus routes and late night public transport options, including ride share apps like Uber.

“The last thing we need is more costs, this is massively disappointing from FreeNow.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for FreeNow said:

This fee has been introduced to enable FREE NOW to continue to invest in improving its technology, app quality and ultimately the service it provides here in Ireland. The fee will be applicable to all passenger journeys and payable via the app.

The price increase comes as Dublin experiences a taxi shortage, with readers telling The Journal that the lack of taxis at peak times has left people waiting for hours for transport, while others opt to walk long distances to get home.