Tfl Private Hire Licence Application Form

Questions related to the approval of taxi and private rental cars

1.1 Transport for London (TfL) is pleased to have the chance to participate in the Committee's study on the authorisation of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licences. TfL is the approval body for taxi and private lessors, cars and chauffeurs in Greater London. One of TfL's tasks is to set benchmarks that must be met by plant owners.

City of London has about 22,000 chartered cabs and 50,000 chartered private cars, about 25,000 cab users and 60,000 private users and 3,000 private landlords. The London Taxicab service has been franchised in its present form for over 150 years, and private hire business licences were established under law in 1998.

The Committee asks for proof of international rentals and other elements of private and private rentals, in particular regarding passengers' security. The TfL would like to consider two specific areas related to passengers' safety: the controls carried out by the Criminal Records Office (CRB) on authorised pilots, and the roles of taxis and private hire companies in relation to LNG journeys, as well as the implementation of illicit taxis.

2. International hiring, where a private landlord or cab hirer makes reservations for journeys to an area in which he is not resident, is currently not a particular subject in London. This could be changed, however, as action is taken to deal with specific London topics such as the Mayor of London's Air Quality Strategy.

2. The Mayor' s Ambient air strategy, recently released after an extensive public hearing involving private and private landlords, contains a number of suggestions to enhance ambient quality. This includes the implementation of compulsory upper ages for cabs and private rental cars in London.

TfL would only be subject to this obligation for cab and private lessors established in London as it has no competence outside the border of the Greater London Area. Every public body throughout the whole county must consider appropriate permit terms for cabs and private rental companies, taking into account factors such as location and the environment.

The licence terms may reasonably vary from territory to territory, as the problems faced by the public authority also vary. This may, however, make it commercially viable for an operator to be located in one area but to make reservations in another area that is setting higher quality benchmarks.

Section 4 The applicable private lease licence system shall be established by the public authorities where the reservation centres are located, irrespective of the departure and arrival of the trip. It opens the door to a private call center rental business where the operations center is located in an area with low license levels; reservations by phone, web or e-mail; cars and chauffeurs located in London but licenced in the same area as the operations center; London sales and provision of London travel, with a distinct edge over London license compliant carriers.

2. In London, the modeling of the Mayor's air quality strategy shows that there is a need for actions to cut pollutant emission especially from street cars and cabs. If, however, the costs of the provision of London cab and private rental service increase as a consequence of these arrangements, it may be economically viable for private landlords located outside London to rival London rental contracts.

As a result, London cab and private lessors would face dishonest conditions of entry and would thus reduce the effects of the action taken. The TfL takes the view, however, that some steps would be appropriate to limit the size of an operator at one site to reservations at another. The TfL believes it is appropriate for the legal provisions to specify the conditions under which cross-border hiring is permitted and to limit the possibilities for managers and cabs to opt for one site in one area while servicing the local one.

3. TfL appreciates the possibility of addressing other problem areas in connection with the licencing of taxis and private landlords. TfL is in charge of issuing licences to all London cab and private hire riders and must make sure that candidates are competent and correct individuals who do not present a danger to the traveling general public. 2 TfL is obliged to provide a licence for all London cab and private hire riders.

The TfL has currently seen around 80,000 driving licences and the approval body must ensure that the candidate fulfils the eligibility and compliance requirements to obtain an approval. Therefore, all candidates must pass an examination in the competition for the title B.Sc.

Disclosure assists the TfL in establishing whether or not a licence would jeopardise security. Priv or to use the services of CRB Disclosure, TfL and other regulatory agencies, we have thought about what amount of CRB Disclosure would be appropriate for cab companies and private landlords.

The TfL came to the conclusion that it would apply for extended disclosure to all claimants, as taxis and private hired car riders may at any moment and without previous experience be solely responsible for persons under 18 years of age or endangered adult travellers. Under certain conditions, extended disclosures may contain'soft intelligence' from the locally used P olive service.

Software intelligence reporting can help TfL make a decision in connection with a license application for a cab or private landlord. The TfL, as authorising body, examines information of which it is informed and adopts a fair balance as to whether or not the authorisation should be granted.

It evaluates information provided by E hanced DISclosures to take into account not only the previous convictions of the applicant but also the "patterns of behaviour" that can be demonstrated by the "soft intelligence" provided. Because of their role, taxi and private hire-drivers can at all times be asked to transport minors or endangered adult passengers and often come into direct communication with other people under the impact of medicines, alcohols or narcotics, especially at nights.

CRB Policy Department replied that CRB does not believe that taxis and private rental riders fulfil the extended control requirements and TfL should require standard information. Between 2002 and 2008, approximately 2,400 applications for licenses for taxis and private rentals were rejected for reasons of nature.

Following consultation with the CRB plant manager, the TfL applied for further tests against both schedules for all notifiers. The TfL was notified by the CRB in 2008 that it was not authorised to claim cheques for taxis and private individuals against the POVA mailing lists as these are only available to those within domicile care agencies, nursing homes and adult placement systems.

3. Furthermore, the TfL and other competent bodies should be allowed to require verifications of candidates of taxi and private drivers against the POVA lists.

Similar problems arise in relation to candidates for taxis and private rental licences for outside London service providers and the TfL proposes that all authorising bodies should be able to apply the Enhanced CRB Disclosures at national level.

3. There is also the question of prior checking for those who, immediately before applying for a licence, worked and resided outside the United Kingdom. Claimants who have resided outside the United Kingdom for more than three consecutive years will be obliged to submit further information on their story and a certificate of good behaviour will be obtained from the relevant country authority.

Up to 10 percent of new proposals require this. At least in two cases, crimes perpetrated abroad have become known during the course of investigations by authorised chauffeurs into serious crimes which would have led to the refusal of licence requests if they had been known. Taxis and private rental cars offer important opportunities for travelling later in the day, when train and metro traffic is shut and coach traffic is more restricted than during the day.

According to a study conducted on behalf of TfL at the beginning of 2010, 13 per cent of home trips after a single overnight stay were made by cab or private rental car (7 per cent cabs and 6 per cent reserved minicabs) with an extra 5 per cent being made in illicit rental cars (including nonlicensed and private rental cars).

4. In spite of considerable advances in recent years, illicit taxis in London continue to be a serious issue and an underestimated threat to the nightlife of the capital.

Such vehicles are not regulated and not insured for passenger transport and in some cases are connected with more serious criminal acts such as sex abuse, looting, weapons and drug use. Also, there is growing concern about problems with abrasive and brutal dismissals that intimidate members of the publicly and law-abiding taxis and health insurance companies.

Cabin-related sex crimes make up over 10 per cent of all sex crimes in London perpetrated by criminals previously unknown to the victims.

4 × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × ×. TfL is also working with the TfL staff and other partner organizations to inform the general population about the Act on Private Hire Cars and Cab Rentals, to increase people' understanding of the risks of illicit transport, and to improve people' visibility of secure itineraries.

Whilst this multimedia initiative has been highly efficient in cutting the use of women illegally taxis (from 19 ºC in 2003 to 5 ºC in 2010), the offenders are continuing to adjust their practices in order to escape exposure by the law and to mislead the general public that they believe they are delivering legitimate service, thereby endangering the generality.

Enforcing illicit taxi rides is a top public transport issue for TfL and the Mayor of London and has been emphasised in the Mayor's transport strategy. During 2008, the Mayor imposed stricter legal sanctions on every private rental licensee found guilty of toeuting, and to date, over 400 private rental licenced drivers found guilty of toeuting or warned have been barred from their private rental licenses for at least a year.

Nevertheless, in many cases these riders only come back to the road without a license. MPS Safer Transport Command's cabin tracking team has made over 6,000 detentions for cargo trafficking and handled a further 2,000 crimes by cargo since its creation in 2003. However, there are misgivings that the sanctions for riders who prove to be using toys are in many cases still too forgiving and uneven.

Actual penalty for uninsured drivers is 2,500 and 5,000 for uninsured drivers (which is the case for any drivers' routing as any payroll scheme is invalid). TfL and the Mayor of London expressed concern to the Home Office in 2004 about the consistency and indulgence in imposing fines for cab tours.

The Mayor of London, TfL and his police counterparts call on the government to impose stricter sanctions on advertising, which will contribute to more efficient prosecution of offenders and provide a more secure setting for travellers. - Increase sanctions for tampering and illegal use of rental crimes, as well as higher administrative sanctions and immediate driving disqualifications following sentencing or accepting a tamper warning.

• Seizure and disposal of vehicle used for the purpose of travelling and the illegal commission of commercial crime (Seizure of vehicle without adequate cover or a licence under section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 does not include seizure of vehicle without adequate cover or a licence, although such cover is mandatory for commercial activities).
• Clear regulatory definition of to-uting and the illegal use of hiring offenses to enhance regulatory and enforcing measures.