Fresh step to highlight properly licensed private hire vehicles in South Holland
Passengers wanting to use a private hire vehicle in South Holland will now have another visible way of checking that it is properly licensed.
South Holland District Council is distributing door stickers to all private hire vehicle operators which it licenses.
The stickers, which include the council logo and the licence number of the vehicle, also carry a reminder that private hire vehicles must be pre-booked.
They cannot be hailed from the street, so their drivers cannot legally ply for trade.
Cllr Malcolm Chandler, district council portfolio holder for Licensing, said: “We are fortunate in South Holland that our private hire car services are of good standing. However, there have been complaints that some individuals stating that they are offering a taxi service may not be licensed.
“South Holland District Council takes the safety of private hire vehicle passengers very seriously and this is another way in which we are striving to ensure the best possible practice in our district.
“Vehicles licensed for private hire only are not insured as licensed taxis, and passengers using private hire vehicles which have not been pre-booked risk travelling in vehicles which are not insured to be hailed nor to pick up passengers from the taxi ranks.
“The highly visible door sticker protects both the passengers and the licensed taxi operators.
“It will help anyone identify that the vehicle they are getting into is correctly licensed by the district council and, should a complaint wish to be made about a journey, the number on it will help in identifying the driver concerned.”
It will become a condition of the annual test carried out by the district council that all private hire vehicles must have the stickers displayed.
Licensed vehicles currently have a rear plate and a round identity sticker on the front windscreen above the tax disc.
http://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/news/la ... -1-5878480
