Canberra taxi drivers despair as Government decision sends plate values plummeting
When Sok Kheng Ngep invested more than $500,000 in two taxi plates, he thought he was securing his family’s future.
Key points:
- Taxi plate owners claim investments have lost 75 per cent value
- ACT Government recently slashed lease rates
- Drivers call for compensation
But in a flash, his investment lost more than 75 per cent of its value and now he risks losing his house.
Taxi drivers claim the ACT Government’s decision to slash the cost of leasing plates from $20,000 per year to $5,000 per year massively devalues their investments.
Perpetual taxi plates, like those owned by Mr Ngep, have not been sold to individuals since 1995, and many owners saw them as a safe investment for their futures.
Despite paying more than half a million dollars for his two plates, Mr Ngep would be lucky to sell them for $125,000 today.
Mr Ngep said he did not want a government handout and thought he was doing the right thing by investing in a business.
“What skill do I have now? I put my life into taxi driving and investing in the plates for my superannuation and my retirement,” Mr Ngep said.
“I can’t imagine lining up for a pension payout at Centrelink and I couldn’t live on it anyway.”
Mr Ngep has been driving taxis in Canberra for more than a decade and said he now had to work harder than ever to make ends meet.
“I’m paying very minimal repayments at the moment because I need my house for my kids to live,” he said.
“I get up at 4:00am every morning to come out and drive for 10 to 12 hours just to keep the repayments going.
“It’s put a lot of stress on my life.”
Mr Ngep was just one of 170 people who had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, seemingly overnight.
Andrew Demetrios originally bought his plates for almost $280,000, but said they were now worthless.
“I could have bought a house instead,” Mr Demetrios said.
“But instead my life savings has disappeared.”
Government accused of devaluing investments
Minister for Business and Regulatory Services Gordon Ramsay said the Government’s decision to reduce cost of leasing the plates added more competition to the market and gave Canberrans more options.
“We want to make sure that people here in the city, who live here and travel to here, are able to get around the city,” he said.
But the ACT Taxi Plate Owners Association accused the Government of using manipulative tactics to “dominate” and “monopolise” the taxi industry.
