(1)No vehicle shall be used as a private hire vehicle on a road in London unless the driver holds a private hire vehicle driver’s licence.
(2)The driver and operator of a vehicle used in contravention of this section are each guilty of an offence.
(3)The owner of a vehicle who permits it to be used in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence.
(4)It is a defence in proceedings against the operator of a vehicle for an offence under subsection (2) for the operator to show that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the vehicle being used in contravention of this section.
(5)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(6)In this section “private hire vehicle driver’s licence” means—
(a)except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, a London PHV driver’s licence;
(b)if the vehicle is in use for the purposes of a hiring the booking for which was accepted outside London in a controlled district in England and Wales, a licence under section 51 of the 1976 Act issued by the council for that district; and
(c)if the vehicle is in use for a hiring the booking for which was accepted in Scotland, a licence under section 13 of the 1982 Act,
and for the purposes of paragraph (b) or (c) it is immaterial that the booking in question is a sub-contracted booking.
(7)This section does not apply to the use of a vehicle for the purposes of a hiring for a journey beginning outside London in an area of England and Wales which is not a controlled district.
Commencement Information
I1S. 12(1)-(6) in force at 1.6.2003 by S.I. 2003/580, arts. 1(2), 2(2)(a)
I2S. 12(7) in force at 8.6.2004 by S.I. 2004/241, art. 2(2)