Tribunal stands firm over non-EC drivers
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• by Mike Jewell
A Turkish-owned company which was stripped of its Operator's Licence after employing Turkish non-EC-qualified drivers to cut costs has lost ds appeal at the Transport Tribunal.
London-based Armondi had appealed against the decision of the South Eastern & Metropolitan Traffic Commissioner Christopher Heaps to revoke its licence for three vehicles and three trailers.
The directors, Cafer and Sevin Mahiroglu, also appealed against their disqualifications from holding an 0-licence for a period of five years.
The Tribunal was told that in January 1999 the company had been warned that it must employ EC-qualified drivers only. In December 1999 it applied to increase its licence to four vehicles and four trailers.
However, evidence from the police showed the company was continuing to use non-EC-qualified drivers and as a result it was called to a further public inquiry.
The company argued that attempts to employ EC-qualified drivers had failed and the former Turkish drivers had been re-employed. However, it admitted that it was cheaper to do this than to
use contractors at three times the cost.
For the company and its directors, Richard Rawlence maintained that there was no evidence that Sevin Mahiroglu had been involved in the transport side of the business or that she had been aware of what was going on. He also argued that a five-year disqualification was too long.
Dismissing the appeals, the Tribunal said that the TC was right to conclude that she was knowingly involved in the unlawful operations: "The Traffic Commissioner gave a reasoned decision and it must also be said that, not only can it not be faulted, but any other conclusion would have been surprising."