4.—(1) The owner of an existing private hire vehicle shall be treated for the purposes of the 1998 Act as if he had made an application for a London PHV licence, unless and until he notifies Transport for London that he does not wish to proceed with the application, in which case any temporary permit issued in respect of the vehicle shall be treated as having been surrendered.
(2) Transport for London shall, at such time as it thinks fit having regard to the need to spread the grant of licences for existing private hire vehicles, notify each owner of an existing private hire vehicle who, by virtue of paragraph (1), is treated as having applied for a London PHV licence of the time and place at which the owner is asked to produce the vehicle for an inspection to determine whether it meets the requirements of section 7(2) of the 1998 Act.
(3) Transport for London shall not be required to consider any other application for a London PHV licence for an existing private hire vehicle until after the time notified with respect to that vehicle in accordance with paragraph (2).