Maximum taxi fares

View maximum fares for unbooked taxi trips that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan or Urban and Large Regional Zones.

Overview

We set maximum charges for unbooked commercial passenger vehicle services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or Urban and Large Regional Zone. These areas cover:

most of metropolitan Melbourne
Geelong
Ballarat
Bendigo
Frankston
Dandenong
the Mornington Peninsula.

Unbooked commercial passenger vehicle trips are hailed from the street or hired from a designated taxi rank.

Fares for booked commercial passenger vehicle services are not regulated; operators set their own fares for these trips. Fares for unbooked trips that do not begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan or Urban and Large Regional Zones are also not regulated.

2024 review of maximum unbooked fares and non-cash payment surcharge

On 16 August 2024, we released the final decision and determination on our 2024 review of maximum unbooked taxi fares which:

increased maximum fares for unbooked taxi services by 5.5 percent. The new maximum fares applied from 23 September 2024.
set out a fare adjustment mechanism that will change the maximum fares for unbooked taxi services in line with changes in our taxi cost indexes in 2025, if certain conditions are met.

Unbooked taxi fares and non-cash payment surcharge review 2024

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Current maximum fares – Melbourne metropolitan and urban area (effective from 23 September 2024)

The maximum charges for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or Urban area of the Urban and Large Regional Zone are set out in Schedule 1 of the current determination. The maximum charges may be based on either 'time or distance' tariffs or 'time and distance' tariffs.

'Time or distance' tariffs – Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or the Urban area of the Urban and Large Regional Zone

(a) For taxis carrying five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard taxi is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid).
(b) As published by that airport in a daily newspaper generally circulating in Victoria or on that airport’s website.
(c) For trips commencing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and from 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
(d) As published from time to time in the Victorian Government Gazette in accordance with the Melbourne City Link Act 1995 or the EastLink Project Act 2004 as applicable.
	Tariff 1 ‘Day’ (9am–5pm)	Tariff 2 ‘Overnight’ (5pm–9am, excluding peak)	Tariff 3 ‘Peak’ (Fri & Sat nights 10pm–4am)
Standard fare components	Maximum charge up to
Flagfall ($)	$5.10	$6.35	$7.60
Distance rate ($/km) (when speed is above 21 km/hr)	$1.982	$2.204	$2.426
Detention rate ($/min) (when speed is below 21 km/hr)	$0.694	$0.771	$0.849
Other fare components (applicable to tariffs 1, 2 and 3)			Maximum charge up to
High occupancy fee (a)			$17.35
Airport taxi rank fee (b) (For trips from the airport rank)			Pass-through
Holiday rate (c)			Tariff 3 rates
CPV levy recovery fee			Pass-through
CityLink and EastLink tolls (d)			Pass-through
Cleaning fee			Up to a maximum of $120

'Time and distance' tariffs – Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Melbourne Metropolitan Zone or the Urban area of the Urban and Large Regional Zone

(a) For taxis carrying five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard taxi is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid).
(b) As published by that airport in a daily newspaper generally circulating in Victoria or on that airport’s website.
(c) For trips commencing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and from 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
(d) As published from time to time in the Victorian Government Gazette in accordance with the Melbourne City Link Act 1995 or the EastLink Project Act 2004 as applicable.
	Tariff 1 ‘Day’ (9am–5pm)	Tariff 2 ‘Overnight’ (5pm–9am, excluding peak)	Tariff 3 ‘Peak’ (Fri & Sat nights 10pm–4am)
Standard fare components	Maximum charge up to
Flagfall ($)	$5.10	$6.35	$7.60
Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times)	$1.639	$1.820	$2.014
Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times)	$0.421	$0.462	$0.499
Other fare components (applicable to tariffs 1, 2 and 3)			Maximum charge up to
High occupancy fee (a)			$17.35
Airport taxi rank fee (b) (For trips from the airport rank)			Pass-through
Holiday rate (c)			Tariff 3 rates
CPV levy recovery fee			Pass-through
CityLink and EastLink tolls (d)			Pass-through
Cleaning fee			Up to a maximum of $120

Current maximum fares – Large Regional areas (effective from 23 September 2024)

Maximum charges for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Large Regional areas of the Urban and Large Regional Zone are set out in Schedule 2 of the current determination. The maximum charges may be based on either 'time or distance' tariffs or 'time and distance' tariffs.

‘Time or distance’ tariffs – Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Large Regional areas of the Urban and Large Regional Zone, including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo

(a) The ‘late night fee’ does not apply during times that the holiday rate applies. (b) For trips commencing between 7pm on evenings prior to all public holidays, through to 6am the following mornings and trips commencing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and from 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
(c) As published from time to time in the Victorian Government Gazette in accordance with the Melbourne City Link Act 1995 or the EastLink Project Act 2004 as applicable.
(d) As published by that airport in a daily newspaper generally circulating in Victoria or on that airport’s website.
Fare component		Maximum charge
Standard fare components
Flagfall ($)		$4.40
Distance rate ($/km) (when speed is above 21 km/hr)		$2.245
Detention rate ($/min) (when speed is below 21 km/hr)		$0.785
High occupancy trips
For trips with five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard taxi is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid): not applicable if the commercial passenger vehicle does not have the capacity for carriage of five or more passengers in fixed seats. ‘Fixed seats’ does not include positions for the carriage of persons in wheelchairs.
Flagfall ($)		$4.40
Distance rate ($/km) (applies when speed is above 21 km/hr)		$3.421
Detention rate ($/min) (applies when speed is below 21 km/hr)		$1.198
Other fare components
Late night fee (For trips commencing between 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights through to 6am the following morning; and from midnight to 6am on all other days) (a)		$4.15
Holiday fee (b)		$5.10
CPV levy recovery fee		Pass-through
CityLink and EastLink tolls (c)		Pass-through
Airport taxi rank fee (d) (For trips from the airport rank)		Pass-through
Cleaning fee		Up to a maximum of $120

‘Time and distance’ tariffs – Maximum fares for unbooked taxi services that begin in the Large Regional areas of the Urban and Large Regional Zone, including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo

(a) The ‘late night fee’ does not apply during times that the holiday fee applies.
(b) For trips commencing between 7pm on evenings prior to all public holidays, through to 6am the following mornings and trips commencing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and from 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
(c) As published from time to time in the Victorian Government Gazette in accordance with the Melbourne City Link Act 1995 or the EastLink Project Act 2004 as applicable.
(d) As published by that airport in a daily newspaper generally circulating in Victoria or on that airport’s website.
Fare component		Maximum charge
Standard fare components
Flagfall ($)		$4.40
Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times)		$1.825
Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times)		$0.600
High occupancy trips
For trips with five or more passengers (excluding children under 5) or where a vehicle larger than a standard vehicle is required regardless of the number of passengers (except where the vehicle has been hired for the carriage of one or more persons who use a wheelchair or other mobility aid): not applicable if the commercial passenger vehicle does not have the capacity for carriage of five or more passengers in fixed seats. ‘Fixed seats’ does not include positions for the carriage of persons in wheelchairs.
Flagfall ($)		$4.40
Distance rate ($/km) (applies at all times)		$3.030
Duration rate ($/min) (applies at all times)		$0.657
Other fare components
Late night fee (For trips commencing between 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights through to 6am the following morning; and from midnight to 6am on all other days) (a)		$4.15
Holiday fee (b)		$5.10
CPV levy recovery fee		Pass-through
CityLink and EastLink tolls (c)		Pass-through
Airport taxi rank fee (d) (For trips from the airport rank)		Pass-through
Cleaning fee		Up to a maximum of $120