Taxi/private hire car operator's licence

In these conditions:

• ‘we’ means South Lanarkshire Council, whose administrative offices are where your licence was issued;
• ‘exclusive’ and ‘exclusive hire’ means one passenger paying a single fare no matter how many passengers are being carried;
• ‘shared’ and ‘shared hire’, means each passenger paying the driver a separate fare;
• ‘taxibus’ means a taxi which is being used, under a special licence granted under section 12 of the Transport Act 1985, to provide a local service which is or needs to be registered under part 1 of that act, which has been previously advertised and which has a destination and route not entirely chosen by the passengers; and
• ‘local office’ means the local district court, licensing and registration office.

• You must take all reasonable steps to keep the taxi, including all bodywork, upholstery and fittings, in a safe and fully working condition at all times. Depending on the road conditions, you should try and keep the inside and outside of the taxi clean and tidy.
• You must take the taxi to our vehicle inspection centre, to have and pass a yearly inspection, whenever we ask you to.  This applies to vehicles which are not purpose-built as taxis or for carrying passengers for payment (such as saloon and estate cars) and which are up to five years old from the date they were first registered, and to vehicles which are purpose-built as taxis or for carrying passengers for payment (such as hackney carriages), and which are up to seven years old from the date they were first registered. In either case, any vehicle over five or seven years old will also need to have and pass a yearly inspection, as well as one random inspection during the year.

When you receive written notice from us that your yearly or random inspection is due, you should take your taxi to the inspection centre at the time we tell you. You will need to pay us the fee for carrying out the inspection before the inspection takes place.

We will set the fee for any inspection and we may change this from time to time.

Although we usually tell you about each yearly inspection, you should still keep a record of the date when the next yearly inspection is due and take the vehicle to be inspected on or before that date.

• If your taxi is damaged in an accident or in any other way, you must report the damage to us soon as possible.  When we ask you in writing, you must take the vehicle (if it is still roadworthy) to our inspection centre within two working days (not including those days on which the vehicle testing facilities are not available) after the accident.  As soon as any repairs to the vehicle have been carried out, we have the right to ask you to take the vehicle for another inspection.
• You must notify the licensing authority immediately if you are involved in an accident.
• You must notify the licensing authority immediately if you have been convicted of an offence.
• You must make sure that a valid certificate of insurance is in force for the vehicle you have licensed, and that you show it to us as soon as possible after any existing certificate has run out.  It is your responsibility to make sure we have an up-to-date copy of your insurance.
• When you receive written notice from us, or when asked to by any of our authorised officers or any police officer, you must give us the registration document or certificate of insurance (or both) for the vehicle, and (if necessary) all previous certificates of insurance showing that the vehicle has been insured throughout the period the licence applies to.
• You must keep an up-to-date list of the names and addresses of all taxi drivers you employ.  You must show this list when asked to by us, any of our authorised officers or any police officer.  If you hold a taxi licence, you must also make sure that the insurance for the taxi you run covers all those people who drive the vehicle for carrying passengers for payment.  Where those people who are authorised to drive the vehicle are named on an insurance policy, you must, as soon as reasonably possible, give us the names of all authorised drivers you have added or removed from the policy.
• You must not ask the driver of a taxi to do anything which would result in them breaking the conditions attached to their licence.
• You must take reasonable steps to make sure that, while the vehicle is being used as a taxi, you display at all times any plates or signs which we have issued for the purpose of showing that the vehicle is a taxi. You must display the plates or signs at those locations the licensing authority have approved, and which you have been made aware of.
• You must not obscure, change or damage any plates or signs we have issued for the purpose of showing that the vehicle is a taxi.  If you obscure, change or damage any plate or sign for any reason, if the plate or sign becomes unreadable or if you lose it, you must report this to us as soon as possible, so that we can issue a replacement plate or sign once you have paid the appropriate fee.
• You must display, on the roof of your taxi, a sign (of a type approved by the licensing authority) to identify the vehicle as a taxi. While the taxi is available for shared hire, you must display a sign (of a type and in a position we have formally approved) to show that the taxi is available for shared hire.

When the taxi is being used as a taxi-bus, you must make sure that you display a notice which shows that the taxi is being used as a taxi-bus. We will need to approve the type of notice and the position you display it in, before you can use it.

• In line with conditions 9 and 11, you must not display on your taxi any signs to advertise the services you provide, without getting our written approval beforehand.
• Where this applies, you must remove from view any signs or other documents relating to contracts you have to take children to school (or similar contracts) once you have dropped the children off.  In these circumstances, any signs or other documents should only be on public view immediately before you pick the children up from the agreed place.
• You must get from us a notice or notices which set out the approved maximum taxi fares and charges for exclusive or shared hire of the taxi. You must display the notice or notices in the part of the taxi passengers sit, so the notice or notices are easily visible and accessible to passengers in the vehicle. You must not display any other notices of fares and charges in the taxi.
• If the cost of the journey is not regulated by the licensing authority, and if you are not using the taxi as a taxi-bus, you must make sure that people who want to hire your taxi are told, before they accept the hire:

• the fact that the fare is not regulated; and
• the cost, or the way you work out the cost, of the proposed journey.

Whatever method you use to work out the fare, you must work out the cost of the journey, as far as possible, over the shortest and most direct route.

• Except during those times when the vehicle is being used as a taxi-bus, you must fit to the taxi a taximeter or similar automatic charging device (of a type and in a position we have formally approved) showing the type of hire (whether exclusive or shared) the taxi is available for.

You must not fit a wheel or tyre of a different circumference (the distance around the edge) from that which we used to design and test the taximeter or other approved charging device.

The taximeter or other approved charging device must also be stamped or sealed by us after testing the distance and time in line with the approved scale of fares and charges for taxis we license. You, or any other person acting on your behalf, must not interfere with the taximeter or other approved charging device, or break or interfere with any seal or stamp on the taximeter or other approved charging device or any attachment fixed to it by us or the manufacturer, except to remove the taximeter or device to be repaired or replaced. In this case, we will retest it before you can use the vehicle again as a taxi. You must not use any taximeter or other approved charging device on a vehicle for any longer than one year from the date it was originally tested without getting it tested again. You will have to pay the necessary fee for this.

You must not knowingly use the vehicle, or allow it to be used, while the taximeter or other approved charging device is in any way faulty or while any seal fixed to it is broken or not attached properly.

If the taximeter or other approved charging device is removed from the taxi for any reason, you must tell us within two working days from the date it was removed.

• You must not carry in your taxi any more than the number of passengers we allow for this licence.
• You must take all reasonable steps to keep to the time and location the person hiring the taxi gives you and which you have accepted, unless you are prevented or delayed from doing so for good reasons beyond your control (for example, a sudden illness, car accident and so on).
• You must keep to all current conditions in force which relate to those taxi ranks we have approved for the zone of South Lanarkshire Council.
• You must carry a fire extinguisher in the vehicle at all times, and make sure that this is securely fastened.  We will need to approve the type of fire extinguisher and the position you keep it in.
• You must not install a two-way radio or similar communication device in the vehicle if the control point for your taxi is outwith the zone your taxi is licensed to work in.
• You must work from the address within the zone of South Lanarkshire Council as it appears on this licence. If you no longer work in the zone, you must, within seven days of your circumstances changing, tell your local office in writing and hand in your licence and taxi plates.
• If you change the address or the place from which you work, you must, within 14 days of that change, tell your local office and take your licence to that office so they can change the details on your licence.
• If you stop working as a taxi operator, whether permanently or for more than three months of the period left on your licence, or if you no longer use the taxi to carry passengers or the licence has run out, you must, within seven days of this happening, tell your local office and hand in your licence and taxi plates to us. Once you have done this, we will consider you to have given up your licence under paragraph 13(1) of schedule 1 to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.