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Topic of the Month
July 2008

First impressions count

Every holder of an O licence needs to complete the GV79 form. For some, this may be yet another administrative task. Yet it forms the basis of the business’ relationship with the Traffic Commissioner and mistakes made at this stage can come back to haunt the applicant.

The application form should be completed by a responsible officer of the business, ie director or owner of the business.  If it is completed by a third party, then at the very least, it should be thoroughly checked.

It goes without saying that all questions on the form must be answered honestly and truthfully.  The operator licensing system is based on trust.   A mistake, either deliberate or unintentional, can result in the loss of the licence.  In determining whether to revoke the licence, the Traffic Commissioner will look at whether the misstatement was made either deliberately or recklessly.  In one case, a company had been refused a licence.  It then made a fresh application, completed by a secretary, but failed to declare that a previous application had been refused.  The application was submitted without being checked by a director.  The transport tribunal held that in the circumstances of this case, it was reckless not to check the form and that the Traffic Commissioner was correct to direct that the licence be revoked.

It is advisable to keep a copy of the application form and regularly review current procedure in the light of the information given on the form.  The licence can be revoked if, since the issue of the licence, there has been a material change in any of the circumstances of the licence holder, that were relevant to the issuing of the licence.  Remember that there is a duty to notify the Traffic Commissioner's office of material changes.  These could include a change of maintenance contractor, a change in the inspection interval or a change of directors.  The application form lists all the undertakings given at the time of applying for the licence.  Periodically the operator should check that there is still compliance with each of these undertakings.

As a rule of thumb, ask yourself are the answers given on the application form still correct?   If the answer is no, then you need to either advise the Traffic Commissioner of a change or urgently review and amend your compliance systems.