Taxi Driver Online

This is the latest from the CPT Newsline:

Driver CPC penalties and offences

Confused about driver CPC penalties and offences? Then the following clarification on whether drivers and operators are fined £1,000 for not carrying their Driver CPC cards or if they are fined for driving without having done the CPC training may help. Legally, the Driver Qualification Card is the Certificate of Professional Competence. Driving a vehicle without one in circumstances where you are required to have it is a distinct offence. It is also an offence to cause or permit someone to drive a bus or coach without a CPC when they need one. Both the direct offence and the "permitting/causing" offence carry a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale - £1,000. Fines imposed so far (for relatively new drivers who had not passed the CPC modules) were £173 driver/£989 employer, £356 (driver) and £516 (driver).

There is a separate offence of failing to carry or produce evidence of the CPC. There is no offence of causing or permitting someone to fail to carry their card. The fine for failing to carry the card is also set at level 3 (£1,000). This seems harsh, particularly if someone had a DQC but had left it in their other jacket, and it remains to be seen whether the courts would actually impose a fine of this level. The TCs should be notified of convictions by the courts, and there is also a duty on operators to advise the TCs of convictions they acquire. This could trigger a public inquiry. The "failing to carry or produce" offence is also included in the Graduated Fixed Penalty Notice scheme. It attracts the level one penalty, which has just been increased to £50. Again, the TCs must be notified when this happens.