Request ID: FOI-3201-2223 Date published: 28 March 2023
You asked
Follow-on from FOI-2816-2223:
Could I ask a follow on to this FOI Request could you supply the replies from Taxi Drivers below to the complaints received with personal information removed.
Thank you for your requests received on 28 February 2023 asking for information about hand held card readers in Taxis.
Your requests have been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described. Section 12(4)(a) of the Act provides for the costs of complying with two or more requests made in a 60 working day period which are, to any extent, for the same or similar information to be combined.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide responses to your current four requests. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
Your first request asks for copies of replies from Taxi drivers in response to complaints received. Taxi drivers do not always provide a response to complaints received about them, or in some cases a response may be received a considerable time after the initial complaint was made. As such it is not always possible to match up all of the responses we have received from taxi drivers with the specific complaint made. In order to provide you with the requested information we would need to match all of the responses we’ve received from taxi drivers over the requested timeframe in order to correctly pair them with the original complaint.
We have explained our position on card payment devices a number of times previously, however if you do wish to submit further requests on this subject, you may wish to consider refining your requests to concentrate on matters which are of most importance to you. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
