Taxi Driver Online

Well i need to bleat on to someone because after a year of badgering our lovely licensing team in york they have done precisely nothing, about a year ago i started a chauffeur company based in york www.executivecarsyork.co.uk, i proceeded to jump through all the hoops the council presented to me and started up, i then find out that there are seven other chauffeur companies in york with york websites, york addresses, york phone numbers, all unlicensed, and after more than a year our council has done sweet fa, i am not against competition at all i think it makes for a healthy business environment, but these so called chauffeurs just go out buy a nice car and start up, i heard one quote last week york to manchester airport 83 miles in a 3 year old s class mercedes £95 how the hell do you do that, anyway thanks for letting me rant and i hope you all have a lovely productive profitable day.

Who have you been complaining to at the council? If it is the licensing team and they are doing nothing about it you need to up your game. Strart with the committee that is in charge of licensing. send an email to all the committee and also copy in the Chief Executive and the licensing department. Explain that by allowing these companys to operate illegally is not only a danger to the public but also a loss of revenue to the council.

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Grandad,

Make an official complaint via the online process which will be somewhere on their website.

That is a formal process they have to engage in.

If that doesn't produce results, then go to the Ombudsman.

Usually the more aggro you cause, the more chance you have of success.

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IDFIMH

Just to update you all, i sent an email to york trading standards and guess what i was contacted by taxi licensing telling me they do care and they are investigating these companies, they said the problem is one of them is licensed by vosa the others are unlicensed and will be chased, fingers crossed it isn't just a ploy to shut me up. Getting back to this vosa thing, i understand that they are paying a bus company in bradford to be able to run off their licences, is this legal and what are the restrictions on using a car under vosa nobody seems to know.

Roy the Bus or grandad - please step forward

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

a nice chap suggested I post the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _Guide.pdf

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

A company that runs large buses are allowed to use a percentage of smaller vehicle without further licensing. This percentage is around 10% i believe. I don't think you are able to pay to use someone else's license but you are allowed to borrow a vehicle from another operator but i think you have to also be an operator.

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Grandad,

So the up shot of it is, a good friend puts the car in his name that good friend owns a bus company, etc etc

The issue which usually catches out the bad folks is the seperate fare matter i.e. if you have one customer the job is priced at, say, a tenner. If a mate comes in at a later stage then the job must be priced at £20.

Same if the price for a ride is £20, and it's booked for four people, should only one person ride, then only a £5 can be charged.

The vehicle must also have a disc on show.

I don't think I have ever come across any small PSV firm that uses saloons that are actually adhering to the law. They all get greedy and get caught.

You need to get as much evidence as you can in respect of the way they are operating, and exactly who is doing what.

In short if they don't charge separate fares, then the law says they should be licensed as taxi or PH.

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IDFIMH

It is illegal for a psv operator to lend/loan/let a mate use an O licence disc. there's been plenty of cases in RouteOne about this sort of thing recently. The Traffic Commissioners just love these cases and love shutting the offending operators down.

A psv operator can use up to 10% of its licences on vehicles under 8 seats; in my company's case because we are a small company anyway with under 10 licences, special dispensation was given in writing by the TC to operate one under 8 seat vehicle on on O licence subject to O licence laws. ly a business such as gradad's

As for small bus operators, I presume you mean "restricted O licence holders", i.e. holders of said licences where the operation of a small psv (under 16 seats) is not a major part of the business, probably a business such as Grandad's where he operates say 20 taxis and 1 small psv. It is not a major part of his business.

If the council in the offending vehicle's area is on the ball, they will be in touch with VOSA/DVSA to find out whose licences are being used, and the holders of those licences face a loss of their livelihood.

good post

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Not forgetting that ALL seats must be available for the public to purchase a ticket so if the vehicle has 4 seats then all 4 seats must be advertised.

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Grandad,

The DVSA/VOSA and LA's are usually quick off the mark to clamp down on those abusing the O licensing system, especially "cab" operators and stretch limos (don't start me on those again).

Anyone who wants to look up the RouteOne magazine online can do so, sorry I don't have the link to hand. They usually carry a couple of cases every week regarding restricted O licence holders, people lending out licence discs and the like.

One thing that O licence holders CAN do is what we would call "touting", sit by the road waiting for passengers. I had a complaint from a fellow PSV operator a year or so ago and local taxis in Dover Docks who were waiting for punters from a cruise ship. My contact ran a registered open top service round the town from the cruise ships; taxis waited to take people who didn't want the open top buses, and a local minibus operator sat there with a board in the window advertising a non-registered service to any of the local attractions. He was doing nothing illegal; if you look at the Miscellaneous Provisions Act, there is an exemption there for vehicles displaying a psv operators licence. If it wasn't there it would mean that no bus could ever work!

Anyway, I likened this particular case to the old days at the seaside, take Brighton, where a collection of coaches would gather on the sea front advertising afternoon trips to Devils Dyke and other local attractions. That would now be called touting, but as it was an irregular service, not a private hire, not a regular local service not eligible for BSOG, but quite legal. Whether any of these trips still happen I don't know, but obviously they still do at Dover Docks.

BUT, I don't see that chauffeur driven car would fit any of these criteria!

Its a frightening industry, and its only going to get worse as budgets are squeezed and enforcement is reduced, i am glad i am 55 not 35

It's down to the likes of YOU to report the unlicensed guys, get them off the road. The LA and DVSA can't do it without information.