Rumours are abound that in January 2008, there are less licensed limo companies in London, than there were last year. Now that may surprise industry pundits, given there was a change to the law which came into force on the 1st January 2008 which required all limo companies to register their business for hire or reward. In London these companies should have registered their businesses with the Public Carriage Office.
So what has happened, have they decided to throw in the towel? Well no.... it seems that many have decided to re-package their limo business, offering limousines for hire on a self-drive hire basis, with the requirement that the customer then employs their own driver, the limo company will have a list of drivers that the hirer can choose from and the customer must pay the driver themselves. Voila! No need to licence with the PCO, no need to employ drivers that have been CRB checked, no need to worry about those enhanced vehicle tests.
Is there anything the PCO enforcement officers can do? Probably not! Can the Department for Transport do anything, yes, they could address the legislation, but they probably won't. So what will happen next? If the unlicensed minicab drivers in London get wind of this, maybe they could also use this tactic to allow them to collect fares legally. They could borrow their mate Harry's car, then go around London picking up customers, all they have to do is get the punter to sign a contract that says they are hiring the car from his mate Harry on a self-drive basis and then they can employ the unlicensed minicab driver to take them to their destination. Ludicrous yes, but why not, if the limo bosses have found a workaround, why not the unlicensed minicabs?
The transport agencies have known about this self-drive hire business for nearly 2 years, it is a pity they didn't consider this when they made the changes to the RTA, once again, the general public are let down by the very people who are entrusted to protect us.
