Wolverhampton-based Maya Coaches’ bid for a new PSV O-Licence following the revocation of a licence held by Maya Travel has been turned down by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Denton.
The firm had sought a new three-vehicle international licence, but the TC was concerned that the application was a front following his revocation of the Maya Travel licence in September 2017 and the disqualification of Director Avtar Singh Ahir for 12 months.
Director and sole shareholder Pirthi Singh told the TC that Maya Travel had been formed in 2005 by his wife and son and he became a director of that company in 2009.
That company was called to Public Inquiries in 2012 and October 2013, when its licence was initially revoked [routeone/Court Report/3 December 2013]. He resigned as a director of that company in November 2013, and he stopped being actively involved in it, apart from acting as a driver.
Maya Coaches was formed in 2013 to hire out vehicles. He would be doing some of the driving himself and he had appointed a second director, Gurdeep Singh Shokar, to help run the business. Mr Shokar had experience managing a wine bar.
The TC said that the application form had contained Mr Ahir’s email address as a contact. It was signed by Mr Shokar as a director when according to Companies House he was not a director at the time. When that was pointed out by the Central Licensing Office (CLO), Companies House records were changed, appointing Mr Shokar as a director. In addition, Pirthi Singh was not named as a director in the application form.
Indicating that he would announce his decision in writing at a future date, the TC said that he required a download from the coach’s digital tachograph producing within 10 days to see whether it had been used since the Maya Travel licence was revoked [routeone/Court Report/24 January.)
Refusing the application because of the clear links between the application and the disqualified Mr Ahir, the TC said that the application started out as a front for Mr Ahir, even if CLO’s suspicions and subsequent events might have influenced a change of course.
The application was made only a few days after the revocation of Maya Travel’s licence and Mr Ahir’s personal disqualification. The application was filled in by Mr Ahir and gave his email address as the contact address. Subsequent email correspondence was handled by Mr Ahir, with little or no discernible involvement from Mr Shokar.
Mr Shokar signed the application, confirming that he was the sole Director of the company; in fact, on the date of signature, Pirthi Singh, not mentioned on the form at all, was the sole director of the company and Mr Shokar was not added until after CLO had drawn the firm’s attention to the discrepancy.
Given that Mr Shokar has no experience of PSV operations and that Pirthi Singh has a past history of non-compliance, which led to the revocation of Maya Travel’s previous licence when he was a director in 2013, he was not prepared to grant the application.
