A bid for a new one-vehicle restricted licence by Junaid Hussain Ajaz, trading as Prestige Minibus Service, has been rejected by Traffic Commissioner Simon Evans as he was unhappy over the financial evidence presented in relation to his main occupation.
Oldham-based Mr Ajaz had been called before the TC at a Golborne Public Inquiry (PI).
For Mr Ajaz, Bill Bowling, Legislation Officer of the National Limousine and Chauffeur Association (NLCA), said that the plan was that the grant of a restricted licence was likely to lead to the making of a substantive application for a national licence if things went well.
In that regard, Mr Ajaz was seeking to take a course of qualification towards the Transport Manager CPC examination. He had obtained informed advice as a result of his NLCA membership, there would be external drivers’ hours analysis and an analysis of licence compliance.
Mr Ajaz said he understood and would comply with the undertakings proposed and which were typically added to these licences. He planned to carry out airport transfer, group travel and “party” work. There was no intention to carry out local authority contract work.
After Mr Ajaz was questioned about his main occupation, the TC said that his assessment of what he had heard had been complicated by the recent decision by Mr Ajaz to change the nature of his claimed “main occupation”.
The application had been submitted in June 2018 when he worked as a black cab driver in Manchester, working 30 hours per week.
It transpired that it was a new self-employment, since his accountant-prepared accounts showed for the financial year to 5 April 2018 his role was as a Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) driver.
There was no evidence produced at all to confirm the extent of the income and expenditure from the now discontinued black cab work.
Mr Ajaz had ceased his black cab driving and had, for the month or so preceding the PI, worked once again in the PHV sector but this time as an Uber driver.
Mr Ajaz had said that early indications were positive, as compared to the black cab market, which had dried up. He was shown a screenshot of his income for the most recent full week.
A projection of expected PSV income prepared by his accountant was produced. Those figures also contradicted Mr Ajaz’s narrative in his letter of 3 September 2018, which referred a net profit based on different gross takings.
When that discrepancy was put to him, Mr Ajaz struggled to provide a coherent explanation, except that the figures represented, at best, only estimates.
The TC was not satisfied that Mr Ajaz had shown that the PSV work would not be his main occupation. Mr Ajaz had not produced convincing evidence of his current income as a PHV driver which could be compared to the projections for PSV income. His assessment of income likely to be generated from proposed PSV work contained anomalies and could not be relied upon.
