Lichfield District Council is facing a £4,000 refund bill after a dispute over rises in taxi licences.
The local authority put up the fee, which covers the cost of vehicle checks and licence plates, but failed to advertise the changes.
As a result they now face repaying 123 drivers the money they have been overcharged in the past three years.
Councillor Ian Pritchard, cabinet member for housing, health and environmental protection, said: “Every time we increase the licence fee, we have to advertise it in a local paper. As the recent fee increases were not advertised, we have written to licence holders to apologise for the error and to explain that they may be eligible for a refund.
“If eligible, the vehicle owner or operator will receive a refund from between £7 and £22 a year for the past three years for each taxi they have licensed with Lichfield District Council. Overall, we expect to refund around £4,000.”
However, the refund arrangements have not pleased all of those who are due their money back.
Drivers due a refund have been asked to provide information before receiving repayments.
But a group of 33 drivers has written to Lichfield District Council to complain about the process – and they have demanded the money be repaid without the paperwork.
In their letter they said: “We feel that the process you have put in place for us to claim back this illegally charged money is unacceptable.
“We would have hoped that when you realised your failure you would have used the information you hold about who you have illegally charged to rectify the situation quickly and efficiently.
“Instead you have put a process in place where those who have been overcharged have to provide information to you that you already hold.
“Your requests for original receipts is confusing as it is entirely unnecessary. You have records of who paid you, when and how.”
The group have called on the council to be proactive in repaying the money.
However, Cllr Pritchard said that the process was the only way the money could be correctly refunded.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this mistake has caused and we are working to pay these refunds as quickly as we can,” he said. “To do this, we’ve created a simple form that asks for contact details, licence numbers and car registration details.
“Because we know licences are not always paid for by the licence holders – they are sometimes bought by taxi firms, operators or relatives on behalf of taxi drivers – we need to make sure we refund the people who paid us.
“This is why we are asking applicants to provide receipts. As companies and self-employed people should keep all work related receipts for a minimum of six years for tax purposes, they should be relatively easy to find.
“That said, we’ve asked anyone who has a problem finding their receipts, or need advice about filling in their refund applications, to contact us on 01543 308731 and we’ll do what we can to help.”
