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Just in case anyone has forgotten since the last time we discussed the meaning of Public service vehicle, "hire and reward" and that of social kindness. Here is a timely reminder of the
Meaning of 'public service vehicle'.
'Public service vehicle' means a motor vehicle (other than a tramcar) which:
(1) being a vehicle adapted to carry more than eight passengers, is used for carrying passengers for hire or reward; or
(2) being a vehicle not so adapted, is used for carrying passengers for hire or reward at separate fares in the course of a business of carrying passengers. Vehicles which meet certain conditions do not fall within this definition.
A journey made by a vehicle in the course of which one or more passengers are carried at separate fares must not be treated as made in the course of a business of carrying passengers if:
(a) the fare or the aggregate of the fares paid in respect of the journey does not exceed the amount of the running costs of the vehicle for the journey; and
(b) the arrangements for the payment of the fares by the passenger or passengers so carried were made before the journey began.
1 For the meaning of 'motor vehicle' see para 10 ante.
2 For the meaning of 'tramcar' see para 18 ante. As to tramways see para 1151 et seq post.
3 Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(1), which is expressed to be subject to the provisions of s 1 (as amended).
4 'Adapted' could mean altered or changed (French v Champkin [1920] 1 KB 76, DC; Davison v Birmingham Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd (1920) 90 LJKB 206, DC; Hubbard v Messenger [1938] 1 KB 300 at 307, [1937] 4 All ER 48 at 50 per Lord Hewart LCJ; Taylor v Mead [1961] 1 All ER 626, [1961] 1 WLR 435; Flower Freight Co Ltd v Hammond [1963] 1 QB 275, [1962] 3 All ER 950, DC; Baker v Secretary of State for the Environment [1983] 2 All ER 1021, [1983] 1 WLR 1485), or it could mean apt or suitable for (Herrmann v Metropolitan Leather Co Ltd [1942] Ch 248, [1942] 1 All ER 294; Maddox v Storer [1963] 1 QB 451, [1962] 1 All ER 831, DC; Burns v Currell [1963] 2 QB 433, [1963] 2 All ER 297, DC; Wurzal v Addison [1965] 2 QB 131, [1965] 1 All ER 20, DC; Traffic Comrs for South Wales Traffic Area v Snape [1977] RTR 367, DC). It is likely that in this context, particularly in the light of the last two decisions cited, it means apt or suitable for.
It has been held that a minibus with four out of eleven seats blocked off is not a public service vehicle: see Westacott v Centaur Overland Travel Ltd [1981] RTR 182, DC.
5 For the purposes of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(1), a vehicle 'is used' as mentioned in head (1) or head (2) in the text if it is being so used or if it has been used as mentioned in that head and that use has not been permanently discontinued: s 1(2).
6 Ibid s 1(1)(a). A vehicle is to be treated as carrying passengers for hire or reward if payment is made for, or for matters which include, the carrying of passengers, irrespective of the person to whom the payment is made and, in the case of a transaction effected by or on behalf of a member of any association of persons (whether incorporated or not) on the one hand and the association or another member thereof on the other hand, notwithstanding any rule of law as to such transactions: s 1(5)(a). See note 7 infra. See Drew v Dingle [1934] 1 KB 187, DC, where a charge was made for carrying goods to market and passengers accompanying the goods were carried without further charge.
Carriage 'for hire or reward' involves systematic carrying of passengers going beyond the bounds of mere social kindness and amounting to a predominantly business activity: see Albert v Motor Insurers' Bureau [1972] AC 301, [1971] 2 All ER 1345, HL; DPP v Sikondar [1993] Crim LR 76, [1993] RTR 90, DC; Rout v Swallow Hotels Ltd [1993] RTR 80, 157 JP 771, DC. Payments to a factory employer or a group organiser who then pays the operator are fares: Wurzal v Addison [1965] 2 QB 131, [1965] 1 All ER 20, DC; Wurzal v Wilson [1965] 1 All ER 26, [1965] 1 WLR 285, DC.
7 'Fares' includes sums payable in respect of a contract ticket or season ticket: Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 82(1). A payment for the carrying of a passenger is treated as a fare notwithstanding that it is made in consideration of other matters in addition to the journey and irrespective of the person by or to whom it is made: s 1(5)(b). See also Drew v Dingle [1934] 1 KB 187.
A payment is treated as made for the carrying of a passenger if made in consideration of a person's being given a right to be carried, whether for one or more journeys and whether or not the right is exercised: Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(5)(c). See also DPP v Sikondar [1993] Crim LR 76, [1993] RTR 90, DC; Rout v Swallow Hotels Ltd [1993] RTR 80, 157 JP 771, DC.
Where a fare is paid for the carriage of a passenger on a journey by air, no part of that fare is to be treated for the purposes of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(5) as paid in consideration of the carriage of the passenger by road by reason of the fact that, in case of mechanical failure, bad weather or other circumstances outside the operator's control, part of that journey may be made by road: s 1(6). For the meaning of 'road' see para 6 ante.
Regulations may make provision as to the person who is to be regarded as the operator of a vehicle which is made available by one holder of a PSV operator's licence to another under a hiring arrangement, and where such regulations do not apply, the operator of a vehicle is the driver, if he owns the vehicle, and in any other case, the person for whom the driver works (whether under a contract of employment or any other description of contract personally to do work): ss 81(1), 82(1). For the meaning of 'regulations' see para 815 note 1 ante. For the meaning of 'driver' see para 7 ante. As to operators under hiring arrangements see the Public Service Vehicles (Operators' Licences) Regulations 1995, SI 1995/2908, reg 22. 'PSV operator's licence' means a PSV operator's licence granted under the provisions of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 Pt II (ss 6–29) (as amended) (see para 823 et seq post): s 82(1).
Under earlier corresponding legislation payment made to the owner of the vehicle, however indirectly, has been held to constitute separate fares in respect of the passengers: Osborne v Richards [1933] 1 KB 283, DC; Hawthorne v Knight 1962 SLT 69; Aitken v Hamilton 1964 SLT 125; Wurzal v Addison [1965] 2 QB 131, [1965] 1 All ER 20, DC; Vickers v Bowman [1976] RTR 165, DC. An ex gratia payment to the driver may not constitute a fare: MacLean v Fearn 1954 SLT 37, Sh Ct.
8 Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(1)(b). The definition of public service vehicle is applied by the Transport Act 1968 s 159(1) (as amended); the Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972 s 7(1) (as amended); the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 80(1) (as amended); the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 s 142(1) (as amended); and the Transport Act 1985 s 137(1), (2).
A thing is done 'in the course of a business' if it is done as part of the activities of a business: Charles R Davidson & Co v M'Robb (or Officer) [1918] AC 304, HL; Havering London Borough Council v Stevenson [1970] 3 All ER 609, [1970] 1 WLR 1375, DC; Wycombe Marsh Garages Ltd v Fowler [1972] 3 All ER 248, [1972] 1 WLR 1156, DC. 'Business' means anything which is an occupation, trade or profession: Rolls v Miller (1884) 27 ChD 71, CA; Re Williams' Will Trusts, Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China v Williams [1953] Ch 138, [1953] 1 All ER 536. See also the text to notes 11–13 infra.
9 See para 819 post.
10 Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 s 1(4).
11 The running costs of a vehicle for a journey include an appropriate amount in respect of depreciation and general wear: ibid s 1(4).
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