The Progressive Labour Party may drop its controversial pledge to make global positioning systems mandatory in taxi cabs.

And taxi drivers will press their case to drop the cab tracking scheme at a meeting with Premier Jennifer Smith on July 7.

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown told The Royal Gazette yesterday he still backed the scheme which was defeated in the Senate last June - but admitted that it now might not be revived.

Asked why, he said: "It appears to be a contentious issue."

Dr. Brown said he did not know when a final decision would be made.

He said: "It's not been ruled out. I still think it's the best thing for the taxi industry."

Taxi owners spokesman Lee Tucker has said there were nearly 3,000 drivers who could tip the balance in some constituencies if Government persisted with the plan.

Drivers have kept a list of MPs who voted for the scheme last time around.

Asked if the rethink was a sop to the taxi lobby Dr. Brown said: "I am not familiar with any taxi lobby.

"I am familiar with the same people who had issues with it in the beginning."

Speaking after last summer's Senate vote Dr. Brown had said: "We will now move to Plan B, which is to reintroduce the legislation in the House of Assembly, one year from the day it was passed."

He had argued the system would tackle poor service caused by lack of communication between the taxi drivers and the dispatchers.

Global Position Systems (GPS) is designed to automatically assign jobs to the taxi nearest the customer, eliminating preferential treatment and stealing of jobs and reducing waiting times.

However taxi drivers say the technology is an unnecessary extra expense for a struggling industry and should not be compulsory.

Instead they back a cheaper computerised system to improve dispatching efficiency.

Gordon Flood, the President of Bermuda Taxi Owners' Association (BTOA), which had campaigned against GPS, said he was delighted with the news that Government was having a re-think.

He said the Government had realised the plan could hurt its election chances.

Last year taxi drivers went on strike and conducted go slows to protest the scheme.

Opposition Transport Spokesman Trevor Moniz said yesterday: "Our view was that there should be more consultation and more of an effort to have a bi-partisan approach on the issue between Government, the Opposition and the taxi industry.

"They should have co-operation rather than try to force it down their throats."

He said it was significant the plan had not been well received by politicians in the Senate as well as taxi drivers.

The Opposition is set to unveil its plan for the taxi industry in the next few days.