Q I was interested to see the Q and A Bureau
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answer (CM September 21) given to a question about the operation of minibuses by a student organization but I would also like to know your comments on the hiring of self -drive minibuses with more than eight seats. Is a psv licence necessary if these vehicles are used for hire and reward?
A The owner of a minibus lets it out on hire as a vehicle, not as a vehicle to be used for a particular purpose. The hirer, if he charged the passengers separate fares or used the vehicle as contract carriage, would require a psv licence, but generally this does not happen.
If the hirer informed the owner that he was going to use the vehicle for carrying fare-paying passengers, and in fact did so, the hirer could be charged with using the vehicle without a psv licence and the owner with aiding and abetting this offence.
The person "using" the vehicle is the one who would require the psv licence, if one is necessary at all, and this would be the hirer.
The facts of each particular case would have to be examined in order to answer your enquiry but, generally speaking, if a minibus is hired by an organization to take a party on an outing and no fares are charged, this is a private use and no psv licence is required. If fares are charged, then a licence will be necessary.