Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this section,
unless the contrary intention appears —
bond means an amount of money paid or payable by a
driver to an operator as security for payment of any amount which is, or may
become payable by the driver to the operator;
operator means a person who operates a vehicle as
a taxi by causing another person to drive the vehicle as a taxi by providing
to the person —
(a) the
vehicle, under a lease or otherwise; and
(b) taxi
plates for use on or in the vehicle, under a plate owner’s lease or
otherwise.
(2) Where an operator
requires a driver to pay a bond that operator shall, on receipt of the
bond —
(a) give
to the driver —
(i)
a receipt specifying the name of the driver, the amount
received and the date on which it was received; and
(ii)
a statement specifying the purposes for which the bond
may be applied;
and
(b)
deposit the bond to the credit of a trust account, whether a general account
or an account maintained for that particular driver, and there retain it until
it is dealt with in accordance with this section.
(3) A bond is not
available for the satisfaction of any debt due to, or any claim or demand made
by, a person other than the operator or the driver on whose behalf it is held
and shall not be attached or taken in execution at the instance of any other
person.
(4) An operator may
apply a bond, or part of a bond, for the purposes specified in the statement
referred to in subsection (2)(a)(ii) and not for any other purpose.
(5) Within
14 days of the application of a bond or any part of it for any purpose
the operator shall provide the driver with a statement in writing setting out
the amount of money applied and the purpose for which it was applied.
Penalty: $1 000.
(6) A bank with which
an operator maintains a trust account is not obliged to inquire into the
application of moneys deposited to the credit of that account and is in no way
liable in respect of any misapplication of those moneys and, except as regards
the operation of the account, a bank has no right of recourse against money
standing to the credit of an account that is designated as, or is evident as
being, a trust account.
(7) Every operator
shall maintain books of account of all bonds received, deposited in a trust
account and dispersed or otherwise dealt with by that operator, in such a
manner as to disclose the true position as regards those bonds and to enable
the books to be readily and conveniently audited.
Penalty: $1 000.
(8) Within
14 days of a driver ceasing to be contracted, engaged or employed to
drive a taxi operated by an operator to whom the driver paid a bond, that
operator shall return the bond, or so much of the bond as has not been applied
in accordance with this section, to the driver, together with interest at the
prescribed rate.
Penalty: $5 000.
[Section 36 amended by No. 4 of 2006
s. 9.]