Taxi Driver Online

Hi, can anyone tell me what the licencing regulations are with regard for executive chauffeur cars and drivers.

I am thinking of adding a jag to my private hire fleet but it wont be used for general taxi work, only prebooked jobs, weddings etc and at a higher rate to our normal fares

Will it need to be plated and if so will I have to display the plates. Will the drivers need to be badged? I have asked the local council (Doncaster) for some advice but they seem to be very vague.

Cheers

Garry

Gary

Yes it will need to be licensed. So will the driver.

Many councils are kind enough to allow exemption from plating for vehicles that do 'no cash' work. But it seems arbitary between districts.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

comon Tom the rules are clear,

Weddings and Funerals no badged drivers required, apparently kids dont get molested on these occasions.


For hirings of over 24 hours on credit same rules, (but I warn you get it all written in a contract)

Geoff

That isn't what he was indicating Geoff. He was asking for pre-booked jobs, wedding etc.

Clearly not intending to enter a contract of more than seven days with a sole customer, clearly stating the registration number of the vehicle in the contract. Those I believe are the exemptions except that of being used solely for weddings and funerals.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

So do I take it the driver(s) and the vehicles are classed as private hire and follow same rules, but if its being used for a wedding/funeral the plates dont need to be on and I dont need to use a licenced driver.

If Mr Moneybaggs rings up and books me to take him to the Airport on Saturday the driver has to be licensed and the car plates displayed. I have no problem with the driver being licensed but sooner didnt have the car plates on, although again no problem with the car itself being licensed.

Thanks for your help Guys

As Tom said, a few sensible councils allow a smaller version of the plate, that's usually put in the back window.

I suppose it's like what's going into the 40,000 London PH.

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IDFIMH

Hi,
Apparantely you are NOT required to license the driver or vehicle as long as the driver does not accept cash payment.
There is a company at Manchester Airport offering a Chauffer service and Licensing have been trying to get them for a long time without success.
Also there is a company in Leicester that works only with Credit cards.
They have 200 vehicles.
Drivers/Vehicles not licensed.
All journeys are pre paid.
Check it out.

I think the Manchester situation is quite complex, and it's being looked into.

As for the Leichester, I very much doubt any firm could keep 200 cars busy on just credit card work. Although even if they did, the vehicles would still need to be licensed.

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IDFIMH

Hi,

Nothing complicated about the Manchester situation.
In fact at Manchester Airport we have a ''Bus'' co running a Taxi service again No Licence plates or Badges for Drivers and apparantely no CRB either.
There is a guy in Leeds running an ''Airport Only'' service, he has three vehicles none of which is licensed with the drivers NOT licensed as well.
I have his phone no somewhere and if I find it will post it here so you can check yourself.
Leeds council have been trying for a long time (like Manchester) to get him to be Licensed without success.

I think that you can run whatever you want as long as you have the right lawyers who know what they are doing.
Rest of the ''legalised'' trade is just scared to challenge the authorities and possibly don't have money to hire lawyers.

I think the complex issue is why this is being allowed to happen.

Then the council need to prosecute. If they dont then why should any of us be licesend.

Lots of airport work is done by un-licensed vehicles and un-checked drivers. It would seem that only a mutiple fatality accident is the only way its going to be sorted out.

Yes, to a degree, but the law is the law.

As far as I am aware, you will have to licence the vehicle and it will therefore need to be driven by a licensed Private Hire Driver (Benson v Boyce).

The fact that money may not change hands at the time seems to me to be irrelevant, as the vehicle is still being used for hire or reward.

However, vehicles that are being used in connection with a wedding are not required to be licensed.

if they are running under an PSV operators licence issued by VOSA it has nothing to do with the council What services can I run without further formalities under a PSV operators licence
You can, for example:

carry a party of passengers for a single payment from the organiser (this is called ‘private hire’) – the passengers must not pay separate fares to you or to anyone acting as your agent; or

run an express coach service, passengers may pay separate fares (but they must travel at least 15 miles in a straight line from the place where they got on – unless they need to get off in an emergency); or