GLASGOW City Council made a huge financial loss on taxi and private hire licensing last year.

City chiefs lost £272,826 overall in 2016/17 despite making a £188,163 profit the year before.

The local authority is weighing up whether to enforce a cap on private hire drivers in Glasgow, with around 3,500 currently in the city and another 177 new licences pending approval.

But Unite the Union, which represents Glasgow’s cabbies, has slammed the local authority, claiming officers are using delaying tactics to avoid an immediate cap.

Steven Grant, Unite’s cab section secretary, said: “The union has been calling for a cap since legislation became active in May 2017.

“Glasgow City Council’s licensing department has been stalling, belatedly and somewhat reluctantly putting a report in front of the licensing and regulatory committee on November 15 last year.

“The committee agreed to the procurement of an independent survey at that meeting. We found out from (council leader) Susan Aitken that the process is still no further forward.”

Currently, there is a cap on the number of taxi licences for black hackney drivers in Glasgow. But private hire firms such as Uber do not have a limit to the number of drivers they can licence.

Glasgow City Council said it was awaiting “legislative guidance” from the Scottish Government before commissioning an independent review into a potential cap on private hire licences.

In emails to Unite, Peter Reid, the Scottish Government’s licensing team leader, said: “It is the intention of the Scottish Government to prepare guidance to support local authorities in this role, and we expect to start work on this shortly.

“It would really be a matter for individual local authorities to determine whether and when to undertake any work on the overprovision of private hire cars.”

Despite making a loss last year, a Freedom of Information request to the council found that an overall net profit of £115,572 was made on taxi and private hire licences since 2014.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The guiding principle around licensing fees is to try and ensure that income and expenditure are broadly in line.

“The number of applications for new licences and licence renewals can vary from one year to the next and so the figures indicate a manageable deficit which may well adjust over the next few years.

“Recent changes to legislation will allow us to apply a cap on private hire cars, if that is found to be necessary.

“We are currently tendering for a provider to undertake an independent assessment of the level of demand for taxis and private hire cars in Glasgow.

“It would be inappropriate to proceed with the assessment before this legislative guidance is available.

“Whether a cap on the number on private hire care numbers is required can only be determined once we have the results of the independent demand assessment. “

Just last week Unite claimed cabbies were being put under extreme stress due to competition, with many forced to work up to 10 hours every day just to earn a living wage.

The union said drivers won’t visit their GP to speak about mental health problems amid fears they’ll lose their taxi and private hire licences.