Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869

1869 c. 115

An Act for amending the Law relating to Hackney and Stage Carriages within the Metropolitan Police District.

Annotations:
Commencement Information
I1

Act wholly in force at Royal Assent

Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C2

Functions of Secretary of State as to licensing of hackney carriages now exercisable by an Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: S. R.&O. 1934/1346 (Rev. XIV, p. 795: 1934 I, p. 1221) and S. I. 1955/1853 (1955 I, p. 1143)

C3

Functions of Secretary of State as to licensing of tramcars, light railway cars and trolley vehicles now again exercisable by Secretary of State: London Passenger Transport Act 1933 (c. 14), s. 51, S. R.&O. 1941/654 (Rev. XV, p. 228: 1941 I, p. 1221), 1946/375 (Rev. XV, p. 229: 1946 I, p. 1009) and S. I. 1970/1681

C4

London Hackney Carriages Act 1843 cited or referred to by its short title under authority of Statute Law Revision Act 1893 (c. 14), s. 3

1 Short title.

This Act may be cited for all purposes as “The Metropolitan Public Carriage Act, 1869.”

2 Limits of Act.

The limits of this Act shall be the metropolitan police district, and the city of London . . . F1.

3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2

4 Definition of stage carriage and hackney carriage.

In this Act “stage carriage” shall mean any carriage for the conveyance of passengers which plies for hire in any public street, road, or place within the limits of this Act, and in which the passengers or any of them are charged to pay separate and distinct or at the rate of separate and distinct fares for their respective places or seats therein.

  • “Hackney carriage” shall mean any carriage for the conveyance of passengers which plies for hire within the limits of this Act, and is F5neither a stage carriage nor a tramcar.

  • “Prescribed” shallmean prescribed by order of one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State.

5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3

Licensing Hackney and Stage Carriages

6 Grant of hackney carriage licences.

One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State may from time to time license to ply for hire within the limits of this Act hackney . . . F6 carriages, to be distinguished in such manner as he may by order prescribe.

Any licence in respect of a hackney . . . F6 carriage under this section may be granted . . . F7, on such conditions, be in such form, be subject to revision or suspension in such events, and generally be dealt with in such manner as the said Secretary of State may by order prescribe, subject as follows:

1

That a hackney . . . F6 carriage licence shall, if not revoked or suspended, be in force for one year, and there shall be paid in respect thereof to the Receiver of the Metropolitan Police, to be carried to the account of the Metropolitan Police Fund, F8such sum as the person granting the licence may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, determine, and different sums may be so determined with respect to different descriptions of vehicle:

2

That in any such order provision shall be made for the transfer of a hackney . . . F6 carriage licence to the widow or to any child of full age of any person to whom a hackney . . . F6 carriage licence has been granted who may die during the continuance of such licence leaving a widow or child of full age, and also for the transfer of a hackney . . . F6 carriage licence to the husband of any woman to whom such licence has been granted and who marries during the continuance thereof.

7 Penalty on use of unlicensed carriages. C5

If any unlicensed hackney . . . F9 carriage plies for hire, the owner of such carriage shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for every day during which such unlicensed carriage plies. And if any unlicensed hackney carriage is found on any stand within the limits of this Act, the owner of such carriage shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for each time it is so found. The driver also shall in every such case be liable to a like penalty unless he proves that he was ignorant of the fact of the carriage being an unlicensed carriage.

Any hackney . . . F9 carriage plying for hire, and any hackney carriage found on any stand without having such distinguishing mark, or being otherwise distinguished in such manner as may for the time being be prescribed by the said Secretary of State, shall be deemed to be an unlicensed carriage.

Licensing Drivers of Hackney and Stage Carriages

8 Hackney carriage to be driven by licensed drivers. C6

No hackney carriage shall ply for hire within the limits of this Act unless under the charge of a driver having a licence from the said Secretary of State, . . . F10. If any hackney . . . F10 carriage plies for hire in contravention of this section, the person driving the same, and also the owner of such carriage, unless he proves . . . F10, that the driver . . . F10, acted without his privity or consent, shall respectively be liable to a penalty not exceeding F11£2.

A licence to the driver . . . F10 of a hackney . . . F10 carriage may be granted . . . F12, on such conditions, be in such form, be subject to revocation or suspension in such events, and generally be dealt with in such manner as the said Secretary of State may by order prescribe, subject to this provision, that any such licence shall, if not revoked or suspended, be in force for F13three years, and there shall be paid in respect thereof to the Receiver of the Metropolitan Police, to be carried to the account of the Metropolitan Police Fund, F14such sum as the person granting the licence may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, determine, and different sums may be so determined with respect to different descriptions of licence. F15. . .

Regulations relating to Hackney and Stage Carriages

P19 Regulations as to hackney and stage carriages.

The said Secretary of State may from time to time by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes; that is to say,

1

For regulating F16the number of persons to be carried in any hackney . . . F17 carriage, and in what manner such number is to be shown on such carriage, and how such hackney carriages are to be furnished or fitted:

2

For fixing the stands of hackney carriages, . . . F18, and the persons to attend at such stands:

3

For fixing the rates or fares, as well for time as distance, to be paid for hackney carriages, and for securing the due publication of such fares: . . . F19

4

For forming, in the case of hackney carriages, a table of distances, as evidence for the purpose of any fare to be charged by distance, by the preparation of a book, map, or plan, or any combination of a book, map, or plan:

5

For securing the safe custody and re-delivery of any property accidentally left in hackney . . . F17 carriages and fixing the charges to be paid in respect thereof, with power to cause such property to be sold or to be given to the finder in the event of its not being claimed within a certain time:

Subject to the following restrictions:—

1

In fixing the stands for hackney carriages within the city of London . . . F20 the consent of the Court of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen shall be required to any stand appointed by the Secretary of State:

2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F21

3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F22C7 . . . F23

10 Penalties for breach of regulations.

Where the Secretary of State is authorised to make any order under this Act, he may annex a penalty not exceeding F24level 1 on the standard scale for the breach of such order or of any part or parts thereof, or of any regulation or regulations thereby made; and any penalties under this section shall be deemed to be penalties under this Act, and may be enforced accordingly.

11 Licences by whom to be granted.

Any licence grantable by a Secretary of State under this Act may, if the said Secretary of State so direct, be granted by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, or by such other person as the said Secretary of State appoints for the purpose.

12 Powers to carry Act into execution.

The said Secretary of State may appoint such officers and constables of the metropolitan police force, and for the city of London of the city police, as he thinks fit to perform any duties required to be performed for the purposes of carrying this Act into execution, and may award such sums by way of compensation for their services out of the monies raised under this Act as he may think just.