Acceptance Criteria:
To become a Private Hire Operator licensed with Dartford Borough Council you will need to meet the following requirements.
- Operating Premises
All PH Vehicle bookings must be made through an Operator with a fixed base in the Borough of Dartford. The Operating Premises may be an office, a unit in the town centre or a home address.
The Operating Premises address will be noted on the Operator’s Licence. Bookings cannot be taken from premises other than the Operating Premises.
The existence or otherwise of planning permission, is not relevant to the grant of an Operator’s Licence. No considerations apart from the fitness and propriety of an applicant can be taken into account by the Licensing Authority. The onus is on the Operator to ensure that the Operating Premises meets other legal requirements connected with running the business, including compliance with the necessary planning laws/regulations.
Where an Operating Premises is accessible to the public, the Operator must have public liability insurance (PLI) (covers an Operator’s business if a customer or member of the public was to suffer a loss or injury as a result of its business activities and if that person made a claim for compensation).
- Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate (“DBS”)
To be granted a Private Hire Operator’s Licence the prospective licence holder and any other person(s) who will be concerned in operating the vehicles and drivers, must be able to demonstrate to the Council that he/she is of good character. This is assessed via references and a basic DBS disclosure.
If the applicant(s) has lived in the UK for 12 months the basic DBS is undertaken on-line at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-checks. If an applicant has not resided in the UK for 12 months a DBS will have to be applied for via the Licensing Section. The disclosure return process can take some time and Dartford Borough Council has no influence over how long the process may take.
- References
Two references must be provided in writing by non-family members who have personally known the applicant(s) for at least 3 years. These references should contain the names, addresses and contact telephone number of the referees. They should make statements with regard to the applicant(s) good character, the capacity in which the referee knows the applicant, the length of time the referee has known the applicant and any other relevant information the referee may consider necessary to demonstrate the applicant’s good character.
- General Information
Drivers and vehicles used by an Operator must all be licensed by the Authority that issued the Private Hire Operator’s Licence. That is to say that if your Operator licence is issued by Dartford Borough Council, all the drivers and vehicles you use under that licence must also be licensed with Dartford Borough Council. The applicant will be required to provide a list of the vehicles and drivers he/she proposes to operate, and return a list monthly with any additions/deletions of drivers and vehicles used. Once a vehicle is licensed it can only be driven by a driver holding the appropriate hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence with the same Authority that issued the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licence. Anyone who does not hold such a licence may not drive the licensed vehicle at any time whilst it is licensed.
Apply for a Private Hire Operator's Licence:
New Applications
If you meet all the criteria you can apply for you Private Hire Operator’s Licence..
In order to complete the process you must have an electronic copy of the DBS, References and Insurance (if applicable) and either a debit or credit card, the form cannot be saved once the process has started. If your application is valid your licence will be issued to you within 14 days.