THE Catapult taxi controversy appears to have claimed a high-profile victim with long-time Newcastle Taxis manager Jim Todhunter being asked to "move on" by Cabcharge chairman Reg Kermode.

Mr Kermode said from Sydney yesterday that it would be wrong to see Mr Todhunter as "the scapegoat" for the Catapult problems but Cabcharge had decided to restructure the Newcastle management.

He said Mr Todhunter had finished on Wednesday and his replacement would start on Monday.

"We will release that name once we have told the staff," Mr Kermode said.

"We said from the time that we took over the Newcastle business that we would be reviewing the way that it operated.

"Jim Todhunter has been involved with Newcastle Taxis for a long time and we would like to extend our thanks for his contributions over many years."

Mr Todhunter has been a prominent figure in the Newcastle taxi industry for many years, serving on the Newcastle co-op board for 23 years until losing the position at a ballot in 2004.

He has managed the Newcastle business since the mid-1990s and was instrumental in the move to dissolve the old taxi co-op and become part of the stockmarket-listed business, Cabcharge.

Mr Todhunter did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Dissident cab owner Gary Ihnen said he, too, did not want to see Mr Todhunter become a scapegoat for Catapult, because "he wasn't the cause of the problem".

Mr Kermode said Cabcharge had worked on Catapult for three years with its business partners in Singapore and England.

Newcastle was the first Australian cab fleet to have the system, while an English version, Advantage, was being fitted into 3000 London cabs.