ALL THINGS LICENSING Up until now, legal


challenges about the appearance of PHVs on app-based technology has centred around whether the vehicle is plying for hire, with the courts having con-


incidences of drivers waiting for work outside of the area in which they are licensed.


INVITATION OF BOOKINGS


Any private hire operator making provision for the invitation or acceptance of bookings in a controlled district needs to hold a private hire operator’s licence with that authority. So far so good. There seems to be a consensus in some areas that provided the “triple licensing rule” is in place, the operator is operating legally.


However, the emergence of booking technology far beyond that available in 1976 has tested the boundaries of the concept of licensing. Nowadays a PHV can be booked as quickly as a taxi can be hailed, with that booking going through an operator’s technology located some distance away from the area where the customer, driver and vehicle are located.


There are exemptions in the 1976 Act at s 75(1)(a), which says that no requirement of the Act “shall apply to a vehicle used for bringing passengers or goods within a controlled district in pursuance of a contract for the hire of the vehicle made outside the district if the vehicle is not made available for hire within the district”, which indicates that the vehicle can come into the district to carry out work (ie, to pick up / drop off) if the contract is made outside the district and the vehicle is not made available for hire in the district.


There is a potential argument that PHVs and drivers presenting themselves (ie, parking up, turning on their booking system confirming that they are available) in areas where they are not licensed, and allowing themselves to be booked via that operator, is tantamount to the operator making provision for inviting bookings in that area, which would require a licence.


PHTM DECEMBER 2022


clusively ruled that this is not the case. However, whether this is “making provision for invitation of bookings” has not been decided and potentially could be an avenue of exploration for an authority where PHVs not licensed in that area are inviting bookings and are available.


This is obviously a daunting task for any local authority to undertake individually, owing to the risks and costs involved. However, if every local authority, potentially in partnership with the trade, were to seek for this area of law to be explained, then this clarification would resolve the question once and for all.


CONCLUSION


It is clear that cross-border hiring is a focus for both licensing authorities and the trade. It is equally clear that there are arguments both for and against the practice, and a lack of consensus about a resolution was highlighted during the Task and Finish Group discussions.


Certainly, the fragmented approach to regulating the trade across the country, particularly the approach taken by some large-scale issuers of licences as well as the Government’s indifference to resolving the issue, means that the issue is unlikely to go away unless something changes drastically.


It is perhaps only a matter of time before some of the smaller authorities experience considerable dif- ficulties in being able to set standards and regulate the trade locally, which is hardly conducive to the public safety aim intended by the Government of a supposedly local licensing regime.


Whilst I will still be hoping for an unlikely Christmas gift that this matter will be resolved, in the meantime I can only wish all PHTM readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


73


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