Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Taxi plates
shall be offered for sale by public tender, with the invitation to tender
specifying —
(a) the
criteria to be met by the successful tenderer;
(b) the
minimum tender, if any, which will be accepted; and
(c) the
conditions to be imposed on the operation of a taxi using the plates which are
being offered for sale.
(2) Taxi plates shall
also be offered for lease, with the invitation to apply to lease taxi plates
specifying —
(a) the
criteria to be met by the successful applicant;
(b) the
period for which the plates are offered for lease;
(c) the
periodic payments that are payable to lease the plates; and
(d) the
conditions to be imposed on the operation of a taxi using the plates which are
being offered for lease.
(2a) If an application
for the lease of taxi plates is made by an applicant who is not eligible to
lease the plates under subsection (4)(b) or (c), (5)(d) or (6)(d) or (e),
the application is subject to the condition that, if the application is
successful, the taxi plates will not be issued unless the relevant provision
has been complied with.
(3) Conventional taxi
plates may be offered for lease under subsection (2) only if the issue of
those plates under section 18 would not result in the total number of
leased conventional taxi plates issued under that section exceeding the
relevant percentage of the total number of conventional taxi plates (whether
owned or leased) issued under that section.
(4) Without limiting
subsection (2)(a), taxi plates may be leased by an individual only if the
Director General is satisfied that the individual —
(a) will
be the owner and principal driver of the vehicle operated as a taxi using the
plates;
(b)
subject to subsection (7), is not the owner, and has no interest in the
ownership, of taxi plates; and
(c) is
not the lessee of taxi plates.
(5) Without limiting
subsection (2)(a), taxi plates may be leased by the members of a
partnership only if the Director General is satisfied that —
(a) a
member of the partnership will be the owner and principal driver of the
vehicle operated as a taxi using the plates (the owner-driver );
(b) each
member of the partnership is an individual;
(c) each
member of the partnership (other than the owner-driver) is related to the
owner-driver; and
(d) no
member of the partnership —
(i)
is the owner, or has an interest in the ownership, of
taxi plates; or
(ii)
is the lessee of taxi plates.
(6) Without limiting
subsection (2)(a), taxi plates may be leased by a corporation only if the
Director General is satisfied that —
(a) a
director or other person concerned in the management of the corporation, or a
shareholder of the corporation, will be the owner and principal driver of the
vehicle operated as a taxi using the plates (the owner-driver );
(b) each
shareholder of the corporation is an individual;
(c) each
director or other person concerned in the management of the corporation, and
each shareholder of the corporation, is related to the owner-driver;
(d) the
corporation —
(i)
is not the owner, and has no interest in the ownership,
of taxi plates; and
(ii)
is not the lessee of taxi plates;
and
(e) no
director or other person concerned in the management of the corporation, or
shareholder of the corporation —
(i)
is the owner, or has an interest in the ownership, of
taxi plates; or
(ii)
is the lessee of taxi plates.
[(7) deleted]
(8) If the number of
applicants who meet the criteria specified under subsection (2)(a) and
are eligible under subsection (4), (5) or (6) exceeds the number of
taxi plates that the Director General determines to be available for lease,
the successful applicants are to be selected on the basis of merit by the
Director General having regard to —
(a) the
extent of an applicant’s experience as a taxi driver;
(b) any
conviction of an applicant of an offence under this Act or the
Road Traffic Act 1974 or an Act of another State or a Territory
corresponding to either of those Acts;
(c) any
infringement notice given to an applicant (and not later withdrawn) under this
Act or an Act of another State or a Territory corresponding to this Act; and
(d) any
other matter relating to an applicant’s character or experience that is
relevant to the operation of a taxi.
(9) If the operation
of subsection (8) does not enable a number of applicants to be
distinguished from each other for the purpose of selecting a lesser number of
successful applicants, the successful applicants are to be selected from the
first-mentioned applicants by ballot.
(10) In this
section —
owner , in relation to a vehicle, has the same
meaning as that given in section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1974 ;
related , in relation to an owner-driver, means
related by virtue of being —
(a) the
spouse or de facto partner of the owner-driver;
(b) a
parent or child of the owner-driver; or
(c) a
brother or sister of the owner-driver;
relevant percentage means —
(a) 35%;
or
(b) if a
higher percentage is prescribed by regulation, that percentage.
(11) A regulation
prescribing the relevant percentage shall not come into effect until such time
as the regulation is no longer capable of being disallowed pursuant to
section 42 of the Interpretation Act 1984 .
[Section 16 amended by No. 72 of 2003
s. 5; No. 4 of 2006 s. 7; No. 26 of 2007 s. 5.]