TAXI LAW EXPLAINED
STATUTORY DUTIES ON LICENCE HOLDERS AND SANCTIONS
This article was supplied by: Stephen McCaffrey Head of Taxi Defence Barristers and Taxi Defence Scotland 020 7060 4773
www.taxidefencebarristers.co.uk www.taxidefencescotland.co.uk
1. If your taxi is fitted with a taximeter, it must be on and used for all journeys (byelaw 5(b)).
2. Where an agreement has been made in advance to pay a fare lower than that displayed on the taximeter, the licence holder will commit an offence if he demands a fare higher than the agreed amount (s.54 Town Police Clauses Act 1847).
Taxi and private hire licensing is strictly regulated, more so than most other types of licensing. Clearly there are good reasons for this, however such a strictly regulated regime such as hack- ney carriage and private hire licensing also places a wide range of strict and stringent statutory duties on licence holders.
Taxi Defence Barristers is often contacted to represent and advise hackney carriage and private hire licence holders who have had their licences suspended, revoked or have been reported for an offence for a breach of one or more of these duties.
In this article therefore, I will look at the more common statutory duties placed on hackney carriage and private hire drivers, the sanctions and penalties attached to these and any rights of appeal.
TAXIMETERS
Under section 65 of the Local Govern- ment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976:
“A district council may fix the rates or fares within the district as well as for time and distance, and all other charges in con- nection with the hire of a vehicle or with the arrangements for the hire of a vehicle, to be paid in respect of the hire of hack- ney carriages by means of a table (hereafter in this section referred to as a ‘table of fares’) made or varied in accor- dance with the provisions of this section.”
Whilst the power to set fares is discre- tionary, most licensing authorities do so. If you are licensed by a licensing authority that does regulate fares, there are a num- ber of statutory rules with which you must comply. These duties are outlined in model byelaws set by the Department for Trans- port (DfT). They include:
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3. There is no provision for a hackney car- riage driver to charge (or agree a fare) higher than that shown on the taxi meter (s.55 Town Police Clauses Act 1847) unless the journey starts in the licensing authority’s area, agreement of the higher fare is agreed in advance, and the journey ends outside the licens- ing authority’s area. (s.66 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976).
Vehicle proprietors or licensed drivers can be prosecuted, fined, face civil claims and, in some cases, be imprisoned for offences of overcharging or not honouring agree- ments.
SEAT BELTS
Taxi and private hire drivers are exempt from wearing seat belts under the follow- ing circumstances (reg. 6 The Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regula- tions 1993):
i. a licensed taxi while it is being used for seeking hire, or answering a call for hire, or carrying a passenger for hire, or
ii. a private hire vehicle while it is being used to carry a passenger for hire.
The exemption does not apply to passen- gers however who are required to wear seat belts. Any person over the age of 14 must wear a seat belt to avoid committing a criminal offence.
Note however that, unlike adults, it is the responsibility of the vehicle proprietor or licensed driver to ensure children (anyone under the age of 14) wears the appropriate restraint for their age and height.
There is often uncertainty with regard to the rules when children do not have the
correct restraint with them at the time they take a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle. Regulation 10 of the Motor Vehi- cles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1993 provides an exemption for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles:
a) a small child aged under three years who is riding in a licensed taxi or licensed hire car, if no appropriate seat belt is available for him in the front or rear of the vehicle;
b) a small child aged three years or more who is riding in a licensed taxi, a licensed hire car or a small bus and wearing an adult belt if an appropriate seat belt is not available for him in the front or rear of the vehicle.
LOCAL BYELAWS
In addition to primary legislation and local licensing policies, licence holders often for- get that local hackney carriage byelaws are also in place. These byelaws are made under section 68 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.
Byelaws carry more significance than poli- cy but are subordinate to primary legislation. The DfT has produced model hackney carriage byelaws for licensing authorities to adopt. These model byelaws cover a wide range of matters including driver conduct, responsibilities on the pro- prietor in relation to safety and comfort of passengers, correct use of taximeters and provisions relating to conduct when plying for hire and transporting passengers.
It is important, particularly for vehicle pro- prietors, to understand the duties placed on them by these byelaws. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and hackney carriage licence holders can, on summary convic- tion, be fined.
DUTY TO REPORT MATTERS
We very often get contacted by licence holders who have fallen foul of some duty to report a change of circumstances that was relevant to their licence. More often than not, licence holders will face enforce- ment action for this ranging from a formal written warning, a licence review or a pros- ecution. It is therefore important for licence holders to be clear in their under-
FEBRUARY 2020
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