# Taxi no-show policy: cutting no-shows and late cancellations

> A taxi no-show policy says, before anyone books, how long the driver waits, when a booking counts as a no-show or a late cancellation, and what you charge. Keep any charge close to your real loss: the CMA says a deposit will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price. Taxi bookings carry no 14-day cancellation right under the 2013 Consumer Contracts Regulations.

By Joe, founder of Dispatch AI. Updated 2026-10-19. The web page: https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/reducing-no-shows-and-late-cancellations/

A no-show costs you twice: the fare you don't get, and the job the driver could have done instead. Late cancellations do the same with less warning. This guide covers what to put in a taxi no-show policy, what consumer law lets you charge, when a deposit makes sense, and how reminders and account terms keep the numbers down.


## What counts as a no-show or a late cancellation?

Whatever your policy says, as long as the passenger sees it before they book. Without a written definition, every no-show turns into an argument about who was where and when.

| What happened | What it counts as | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Car arrives on time, passenger never appears after the free wait | No-show | Arrival time, minutes waited, calls and texts made |
| Passenger cancels after the car has set off | Late cancellation | Time of the cancellation, where the car was |
| Passenger cancels the evening before | Ordinary cancellation | Time of the cancellation |
| Car arrives late and the passenger has gone | Your failure, not a no-show | Arrival time and the reason for the delay |
| Passenger gave the wrong pickup address | Whatever your policy says | The address booked and the address meant |

The record matters as much as the rule. Liverpool City Council's 2026 operator conditions, for example, require the booking record to show the date and time the booking was received and any later cancellation, and to be kept for at least 12 months. Those entries are your evidence if a passenger disputes a charge, and your data when you want to know where the no-shows come from.


## How much do no-shows cost your firm?

Count it from your own booking records, because nobody else's figure tells you anything about your firm.

Example: 5 no-shows a week at an average fare of £18 is £90 a week, or £4,680 a year (£90 × 52). That's before the driver's dead miles and the job they turned down to go.

Split the count by type: airport pre-books, Friday and Saturday nights, account work, and first-time callers. When the problem sits in one or two of those, the fix is different for each. Our guide to [taxi business numbers to track](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-business-numbers-to-track/) shows how to keep this alongside your other weekly figures.


## What should a taxi no-show policy say?

Five things, in plain words, where the passenger sees them before they book:

1. The free waiting time at the pickup, with a longer allowance for airport arrivals.
2. What the driver and the office do before calling it a no-show: a call and a text to the number on the booking.
3. When a cancellation becomes a late cancellation, and what it costs.
4. What a no-show costs.
5. How to cancel in time, and that cancelling in time is free.

Put it on your booking page, in the confirmation text and in your terms. The Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on unfair contract terms says a charge is more likely to be fair when the circumstances that trigger it are clear, upfront and objectively reasonable, and the consumer can easily avoid it. An easy way to cancel is part of that.

Keep it short. A policy nobody reads protects nobody.


## Can you charge a cancellation or no-show fee?

Yes for private hire, if the passenger agreed to it before booking and the cancellation charge reflects what the no-show really cost you. Hackney carriage fares are a different matter: check your council's table of fares first.

The test comes from the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Section 62 says an unfair term in a consumer contract isn't binding on the consumer. Schedule 2 lists terms that may be unfair, including one that makes a consumer who cancels, or who fails to keep their side of the deal, pay "a disproportionately high sum in compensation".

The CMA's guidance (CMA37, updated 22 July 2026) spells out what that means in practice. A charge should reflect any costs you save by not doing the job, your chance to reduce the loss by finding another customer, and a genuine pre-estimate of your loss. A sliding scale of charges is fine, as long as no point on it is disproportionate or punitive.

Here's what a sliding scale might look like:

| When the passenger cancels | Example charge on a £40 airport job |
|---|---|
| The day before or earlier | Nothing |
| On the day, before the car sets off | Nothing, unless you turned other work away for it |
| After the car has set off | £10 (a quarter of the fare) |
| No-show after the free wait | £20 (half the fare) |

Two rules catch firms out. The 2013 Consumer Contracts Regulations don't give passengers a 14-day right to cancel, because regulation 27(2)(c) takes passenger transport services out of that part of the rules. And since 13 January 2018 you can't add a fee for paying by consumer card, under regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012.

For hackney carriages, the council's table of fares sets what can be charged. Birmingham City Council's table (dated 1 April 2025), for example, lists waiting charges of 20p for each 38.7 seconds on tariff one, about £18.60 an hour, plus extras for luggage and pets, but no cancellation fee. Check your own council's table and conditions before you charge a hackney passenger anything it doesn't list.


## Should you take a deposit or card payment up front?

For long trips, airport runs and the busiest nights, taking payment or a deposit when the passenger books takes the sting out of a no-show. A passenger who has already paid has a reason to turn up, or to cancel in time.

Three ways to do it:

- **Full payment at booking**, by a card payment link, refunded under your cancellation policy.
- **A hold on the card**, captured after the journey. Stripe's documentation says an authorisation for an online card payment is usually valid for 7 days, so for jobs booked weeks ahead, take the payment instead or ask for the card nearer the date.
- **A deposit**, kept if the passenger doesn't turn up.

Keep a deposit small. The CMA's guidance says a genuine deposit can be kept in full if it works as a binding reservation and you make the circumstances clear at the earliest opportunity, but it "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price". A larger prepayment kept in full risks being treated as a disguised penalty.

Dispatch AI's phone agent never takes card details over the phone. Customers pay by card through a secure link sent by email, which is also the safer way to take a payment you might need to refund. More on the options in our guide to [card payments for taxi bookings](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/card-payments-for-taxi-bookings/).


## Does a reminder text cut no-shows?

A reminder text gives the passenger an easy moment to cancel in time, which turns a no-show into an ordinary cancellation you can fill. It also catches the wrong date or the wrong address while there's still time to fix it.

Send one the day before for anything booked in advance, and a short "your car is on its way" message on the day, with the car details. Put the cancellation option in the reminder: a reply word, a link or your number.

Keep reminders free of offers. The ICO treats messages that confirm or remind people about appointments as service messages, but a service message with promotional content counts as direct marketing. Our guide to [booking confirmation texts and emails](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-booking-confirmation-text-and-email/) covers the wording.


## How do you handle no-shows from account customers?

Put the rules in the account agreement and invoice no-shows like any other job. The Consumer Rights Act's fairness test applies to consumer contracts, so with business account customers the agreement you both sign does most of the work.

A sound account agreement says:

- who can book and cancel for the company;
- the cut-off for a free cancellation;
- what a no-show or late cancellation costs, and that it appears on the monthly invoice;
- how the driver will try to reach the passenger before leaving.

Send each account a monthly list of its no-shows with the booker's name. A finance manager who sees the same name five times a month will often have a word for you. See our guides to [business accounts in your booking system](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/business-accounts-in-your-booking-system/) and [winning corporate taxi accounts](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/winning-corporate-taxi-accounts/).


## What should a driver do at a no-show pickup?

Follow the same steps every time, so the record holds up if the passenger disputes a charge.

1. Arrive at the booked time and place, and tell the office.
2. Wait the full free waiting time, and check the right entrance at big sites such as hospitals and stations.
3. The office rings and texts the passenger on the number booked.
4. Only then does the driver leave, with the office's say-so.
5. The office marks the booking as a no-show, with the times.

Take extra care where the passenger is a child or a vulnerable adult. The Department for Transport's statutory standards say an operator can't pass on its duty to protect children and vulnerable adults, so a missing school or care pickup is a call to the booker, not just a no-show charge.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a passenger cancel a taxi booking within 14 days for a full refund?

No. The 14-day cancellation right in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 doesn't apply to passenger transport services. Your own cancellation policy, and the fairness rules in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, decide what happens instead.

### Can I add a fee for paying by card?

Not on consumer cards. Since 13 January 2018, the Payment Surcharges Regulations have stopped businesses charging a fee for payment by a consumer debit or credit card.

### Can a hackney carriage charge for a no-show?

Only what your council's table of fares and conditions allow. Birmingham's table, for example, lists waiting time and extras but no cancellation fee, so read your own council's table before you charge anything else.

### Should I refuse bookings from people who keep not turning up?

You can ask repeat no-shows to pay when they book. Be careful about refusing outright: a private hire operator commits an offence under section 167A of the Equality Act 2010 by refusing a booking because the passenger is disabled.

### How long should a driver wait before it counts as a no-show?

As long as your policy says, and the passenger should be told when they book. If you do airport work, allow longer for arrivals, because the passenger has to get through passport control and baggage reclaim.


## Sources

- [Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulation 27](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/27) passenger transport services excluded from the cancellation rules
- [Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 62](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/62) unfair terms not binding on the consumer
- [Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/schedule/2) terms that may be regarded as unfair, paragraphs 4 to 6
- [Unfair contract terms guidance, CMA37 (Competition and Markets Authority)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-contract-terms-cma37) paragraphs 6.62 to 6.66 on deposits and cancellation charges, updated 22 July 2026
- [Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, regulation 6A](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3110/regulation/6A) no fee for consumer card payments from 13 January 2018
- [Place a hold on a payment method (Stripe)](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/place-a-hold-on-a-payment-method) online card authorisations usually valid for 7 days
- [Identify direct marketing (ICO)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/direct-marketing-guidance/identify-direct-marketing/) service messages and reminders
- [Private Hire Operator Standard Licence Conditions, from 12 February 2026 (Liverpool City Council)](https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/aaghcopt/private-hire-vehicle-operator-conditions-2026.pdf) booking records including cancellations, kept 12 months
- [Hackney carriage table of fares (Birmingham City Council)](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11462/hackney_carriage_fare_table.pdf) waiting charges and extras, dated 1 April 2025
- [Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Department for Transport)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards) the safeguarding duty stays with the operator
- [Equality Act 2010, section 167A](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/167A) private hire operators and disabled passengers

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