Half of the drivers working for Bermuda?s largest cab company are refusing to turn on their Global Positioning Systems ? six weeks after they became mandatory.

The Motor Car Amendment Act 2005 requires that as of August 6, all taxis must be furnished with one of the hi-tech satellite navigation systems. However, the law does not make it clear whether it is illegal for cabbies to have the system turned off.

A spokeswoman for the Transport Control Department said last month that the regulations were being reviewed prior to the next Parliamentary session, which begins in November.

Last night, Michael Ray, who is president of both the BTA dispatching company and the Bermuda Taxi Association, estimated that around 75 of the 600 taxis on the Island did not have GPS installed, but said none worked for his company.

?BTA is up and running and doing well. The other two companies, as far as I know, are still not using GPS. If they are not complying, then the ?powers that be? should be made to implement whatever (punishment) it is if you don?t obey the law,? he said.

However, he admitted that only half of the 400 BTA drivers were actually switching on the tracking systems, which give written notice of jobs on a screen as they come in.

?I have seen an increase in usage, although it?s not where we would like it to be. We try to encourage our guys to use it. It?s a good tool,? he said.

He explained that the dispatch operation ? which handles around 1,300 calls per day ? did not run as efficiently as it could do with only some of the drivers participating.

Part of the problem, he believes, is that some cannot read well enough to operate without the traditional verbal dispatch system but are too embarrassed to admit this.

Apart from encouraging them to use it, he said there was nothing he could do to enforce the use of GPS, and called upon the TCD to target the drivers for non-compliance, not the dispatchers.

Edward Darrell, owner of Radio Cabs, said all but 30 of his 180 drivers had GPS installed, with the rest waiting for it to be fitted.

He said that the technician who was supposed to connect the technology had only just returned from a two week vacation, which had caused a delay.

Once fitted, he said, his drivers had no option but to use the GPS as it comes on as soon as the radio is turned on.

However, he said he felt that the system had no benefit to his company, just to the Transport Control Department in monitoring activity.

?We don?t need it but the drivers have to pay for it,? he said.

?It?s not going to make the company any more money, but the government can find out all kinds of information.?

He said monthly fees to the overseas GPS company meant his drivers now had to pay $145 per month to the dispatch company, rather than $120.

As reported on Page 1 in today?s , Bermuda?s third dispatch company, Co-Op taxis is currently suspended from operating because it does not have the minimum 50 cabs required by law. The company failed to meet to meet the August 6 deadline when it became mandatory for all cabs to be fitted with GPS.

Executive Wayne Mouchette said in mid-August that the TCD had been given until September 6 to get the system online, but it then had its licence suspended. Lawyer Mark Pettingill, who is representing the company, said yesterday that it had ?arguably the best GPS system available? which is ?pretty much in place and ready to go.?

He added that he had information that the other dispatch companies were not complying with GPS requirements, and felt that Co-Op may be being discriminated against unfairly for breaching the letter of the law.

?Why are we being singled out?? he asked. sent a list of questions to the Transport Control Department, asking how many cabs were believed to be dodging GPS requirements and what was being done to enforce the law. No response was forthcoming.