Measuring equipment used for trade, including taximeters, is subject to control by the NSAI Legal Metrology Service in accordance with the Metrology Acts 1980 to 1998. The regime of control includes approval of new designs of measuring equipment, verification of instruments upon installation and following repair or recalibration and inspection over the life of the instruments. Verification is a process that includes tests to determine that a measuring instrument conforms to its approved design and measures correctly within legal tolerances. Upon successful conclusion of the tests, the instrument is secured with tamper-evident devices to prevent unauthorised access to its calibration settings.
Owners/Operators of taximeters used for trade should ensure re-verification is carried out following repair or adjustment of parts requiring official seals to be broken. Knowingly failing or neglecting to ensure compliance may result in prosecution.
In May 2014, Applus Car Testing Services (Applus+) was authorised under Section 12 of the Metrology Act, 1996 to conduct verifications of taximeters at a new reduced test fee. The cost per verification of a taximeter was reduced from €75 to €70 per test. Currently over 90% of taxi owners/operators pass the test.
The Legal Metrology Service continues to work closely with the industry by providing technical information to support a reduction of taximeters that fail the verification test.
In an effort to reduce the potential for failing the verification test Applus+ sends a checklist of requirements to each applicant prior to their appointment in order to draw attention to the items that should be taken care of before undergoing testing.
The current arrangements for failures agreed with Applus+ require either a retest with full equipment or in certain circumstances a visual recheck will be sufficient. Taximeters that fail the verification test due to a peripheral device issue, i.e. a printer, will be sealed at the time of verification and will require a visual retest within a set time to ensure that the issue has been resolved. This type of visual retest is carried out free of charge.
Taximeters that fail and as a result cannot be sealed on completion of the test will require a retest after the issues causing the fail are resolved. Retesting of previously failed meters incurs a full test fee as a complete test cycle using equipment is required.
