All on-demand rank or hail (taxi) drivers are required to accept Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme (PTSS) cards and interstate taxi subsidy vouchers.
The Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme Guidelines (the Guidelines) outline the rules and obligations for:
- people who want to apply for PTSS
- people who use PTSS, and
- taxi drivers and on-demand booking services (ODBS).
The Guidelines sit under the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020. The Guidelines must be complied with to be eligible to receive subsidies.
Drivers are responsible for remaining aware of these guidelines, as well as the:
Driver obligations
When you take PTSS journey, you agree to follow the rules and obligations outlined in the Guidelines, including the following.
Drivers must:
- Apply the PTSS subsidy correctly and ensure that PTSS participants are charged only the portion of the fare payable, after the applicable subsidy has been deducted.
- Ensure their passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisation and the vehicle’s passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisation are current.
- Accurately submit all PTSS journey information, using the method specified by their ODBS at the time of the journey.
- Ensure all the details regarding the PTSS journey, the fare and the PTSS participant details are correct.
- Present and use only their own PTD authorisation details when recording a PTSS journey.
- Accept valid interstate vouchers where applicable.
Drivers must not:
- Retain possession of a PTSS participant’s PTSS card under any circumstance.
- Provide false or misleading information in any DTMI document or system.
- Submit a PTSS journey to the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure (DTMI), unless the PTSS participant is present in the vehicle for the duration of the PTSS journey.
Driver and PTSS participant relationships
PTSS subsidies are not payable for PTSS journeys where the driver has a personal, domestic or financial relationship with the PTSS participant. This means a driver must not provide a PTSS subsided journey to a participant, if the driver is a:
- spouse or partner
- relative
- member of the same household
- close personal associate, or
- business associate.
These examples are not exhaustive. Read the Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme Guidelines for more information.
How to capture PTSS journeys
There are two ways to capture PTSS journey details.
- Drivers install and use the PTSS mobile app on their mobile device.
- ODBSs integrate their own digital systems (like dispatch software) with the PTSS application programming interface (API). If your ODBS has integrated their dispatch equipment with the PTSS API, you do not need to use the PTSS mobile app.
You must confirm which way you are capturing PTSS journey details with your ODBS. Both ways will collect and send journey details to DTMI.
Drivers must not:
- sell, exchange, borrow or give away a participant’s PTSS card
- keep or accept PTSS cards when the PTSS participant is not a passenger in the taxi
- accept a PTSS journey from family members, or
- accept PTSS trips as a tip or gratuity.
How to use the PTSS mobile app
The PTSS mobile app is provided by DTMI to record details of PTSS journeys completed by taxi drivers.
To use the PTSS mobile app, you must:
- have a DoTDirect account, and
- hold a valid PTD authorisation.
Each time a driver logs in to the PTSS mobile app, drivers accept the Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme Guidelines and the PTSS app terms and conditions.
Visit PTSS mobile app for more information.
Interstate taxi subsidy vouchers
People who are part of taxi subsidy schemes in different states or territories can use their usual subsidy when they travel in other parts of Australia. WA taxi drivers are required to always accept interstate vouchers as part of the fare.
To access their subsidy interstate, passengers must request an interstate taxi subsidy voucher from their home state. Interstate vouchers are not valid in the state they were issued.
How to accept interstate subsidy vouchers
To start a taxi journey using interstate vouchers, passengers must present:
- their interstate taxi subsidy voucher book (see the FAQs for example vouchers), and
- a valid subsidy scheme participant card.
Before driving, the taxi driver must complete the following fields on the interstate voucher.
- Date (on stub and voucher).
- From (pickup location, on stub and voucher).
- Passenger membership number.
- Expiry date.
- PTD authorisation number (stub and voucher).
- Taxi registration number (the taxi plate number).
- Start time.
- State of travel (Western Australia).
After the journey, the taxi driver must complete the following fields on the interstate voucher.
- Amount paid by passenger (stub and voucher).
- Driver’s signature (stub and voucher).
- Member’s signature (voucher).
- Finish time.
- To (drop off destination, on the stub and voucher).
- Total cost of the fare.
- Subsidy value.
How to submit interstate subsidy vouchers for payment
Drivers must submit interstate subsidy vouchers to their ODBS. To ensure driver payments are accurate, ODBSs must keep a record of drivers that have submitted vouchers each month.
At the end of each month, ODBSs must submit the collated interstate vouchers they have received throughout the month, with an itemised invoice, to DTMI. Submissions must be sent by mail to:
On-demand Transport – Customer Service
GPO Box R1290
Perth WA 6844
DTMI will review and validate the submitted interstate vouchers. Once validated, DTMI will provide payments to the ODBS. It is the ODBS’s responsibility to ensure they provide accurate payment to their drivers.
FAQs
To do PTSS work, you must ensure:
- you hold a valid PTD authorisation
- the vehicle you are driving has a valid PTV authorisation, and
- the ODBS you operate for is registered for PTSS.
Taxi drivers are required by the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020 to provide subsidised fares to a PTSS participant, except where the PTSS participant does not:
- have a valid PTSS card
- present the PTSS card at the start of the journey
- appear to have a likeness to the photo of the participant on the PTSS card, or
- pay their portion of the fare.
PTSS journey details are submitted to DTMI via:
- the PTSS mobile app, or
- dispatch equipment that your ODBS has integrated with DTMI systems, to automatically capture journey details.
DTMI validates all PTSS journeys and pay the subsidy and any co-payment amounts to the ODBS associated with the journey.
As a driver, the ODBS associated with your PTSS journey is responsible for distributing accurate and timely PTSS payments to you, including for rank or hail bookings.
Visit PTSS payments for drivers for more information.
No, drivers must not accept a PTSS journey from a participant who is a family member or where the driver has a personal, domestic or financial relationship with the PTSS participant. This means a driver must not provide a PTSS subsided journey to a participant, if the driver is a:
- spouse or partner
- relative
- member of the same household
- close personal associate, or
- business associate.
Read the Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme for more information.
See the provided examples of what interstate vouchers and books look like. Vouchers might look different depending on the state that issued them, or the subsidy level.
Interstate voucher book - front
Interstate voucher - front
Interstate voucher - back
