This is why your taxi fare may increase in Milton Keynes during Ramadan

The increase, which is up to £2 per journey, is an incentive used by some taxi firms to encourage Muslim drivers to work during their holy month.

Members of the public contacted the Citizen to question why their usual fares have increased over the past few days.

One Skyline passenger said: “This morning I found myself charged £7.10 for a £5 journey taxi from Wolverton to Stony Stratford…. I rang the controller I was told the extra £2 charge is because it’s Ramadan and they need to encourage drivers to work.”

The passenger, who was travelling into work herself just after 4am, said she was not happy about the increase.

A spokesman for Skyline told the Citizen: “We charge a very competitive rate… Many of our drivers are Muslim and Ramadan is very important to them. They deserve a little extra to come to work during their fast.”

Skyline charges an extra £2 per journey between 7.30pm and 10.30pm during the holy month. Sunset is the time when Muslims break their fast with an evening meal (Iftar) and hold their evening prayers.

"It’s a special time of day and we are asking them to come to work,” said the Skyline spokesman.

At other times of day during Ramadan there is a £1 increase to normal fares.

"It is only temporary. It will finish when Ramadan is over,” said the spokesman.

The holy month ends on the evening of Sunday May 1. It is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and observed by Muslims worldwide as a time of fasting, prayer, reflection and community.

The observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.

To fast from dawn to sunset is obligatory for all adult Muslims who are not ill, elderly, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating.

During the fast, Muslims also refrain from tobacco products, sexual relations, and sinful behavior, devoting themselves instead to prayer.