The Road Transport (International Passenger Services) Regulations 2018

Made: 19th December 2018

Laid before Parliament: 20th December 2018

Coming into force: 1st February 2019

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to measures relating to the carriage of passengers and goods by road.

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and section 56(1) and (2) of the Finance Act 1973 .

In accordance with section 56(1) of the Finance Act 1973 the Treasury consents to the making of these Regulations.

Citation, commencement and extent

1

These Regulations—

• (a) may be cited as the Road Transport (International Passenger Services) Regulations 2018;

• (b) come into force on 1st February 2019; and

• (c) do not extend to Northern Ireland.

Revocation

2

The Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011 are revoked.

Interpretation

3

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 1981 Act” means the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 ;

• “the 1981 Regulations” means the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981 ;

• “EEA State” means a State, not being a member State, which is a party to the EEA Agreement;

• “Interbus” means the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement) originally concluded in Brussels on 30th June 2001 and as acceded to by the United Kingdom by instrument of accession deposited on 29th October 2020;

• “PSV operator's licence” has the meaning given by section 82(1) of the 1981 Act;

• “Regulation 1071/2009” means Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator ;

• “RPT Chapter” means Title II of Heading Three of Part Two (transport of passengers by road) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, together with—Annexes 32, 33 and 34 to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement; andArticles 124, 135 and 137 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, so far as applying to that Title;

• “RSR Protocol” means the Protocol to Interbus regarding the international regular and special regular carriage of passengers by coach and bus;

• “Trade and Cooperation Agreement” has the meaning given in section 37(1) of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020;

• ...

• “traffic commissioner” means a commissioner appointed under section 4 of the 1981 Act;

• (2) For the purposes of the RPT Chapter, Interbus and the RSR Protocol, “authorised inspecting officer” means—

• (a) a police constable in uniform; or

• (b) an examiner appointed under section 66A(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988

• (3) Terms and expressions used in the RPT Chapter, Interbus or the RSR Protocol have the same meaning in these Regulations.

Competent authorities

4

• (1) The competent authority is—

• (a) for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (2), the Secretary of State; and

• (b) for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (3), the Confederation of Passenger Transport.

• (2) The purposes mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) are these Regulations and—

• (a) non-liberalised occasional services to which Articles 15 and 16 of Interbus apply where the point of departure is in Great Britain;

• (b) regular and special regular services to which—

• (i) Articles 477, 479, 480 and 481 of the RPT Chapter apply; and

• (ii) Articles 8 to 12 of the RSR Protocol apply;

for transport operators established in Great Britain.

• (3) The purposes mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) are—

• (a) the issue of control documents to transport operators established in Great Britain for the purposes of Article 10 of Interbus for occasional services exempted from authorisation as set out in Annex 3 of Interbus; and

• (b) occasional services outside the scope of Interbus but falling within Article 475 of the RPT Chapter where the point of departure is in Great Britain.

• (4) It is the duty of the competent authority to perform the functions conferred on the competent authority by the provisions specified in paragraph (2) or (3) as appropriate.

Use of a public service vehicle not registered in the United Kingdom

5

• (1) This regulation applies to a vehicle not registered in the United Kingdom but which is registered in a member State, an EEA State or an Interbus State, and which is being used in Great Britain in accordance with—

• (a) Interbus for the provision of liberalised occasional services or non-liberalised occasional services, or

• (b) the RSR Protocol for the provision of regular services or special regular services, or

• (c) the RPT Chapter for the provision of occasional services, regular services or special regular services outside the scope of Interbus and the RSR Protocol.

• (2) In relation to a vehicle to which this regulation applies—

• (a) the 1981 Act has effect as if sections 6 (certificate of initial fitness), 12 (PSV operator's licence) and 18 (duty to exhibit operator's disc) were omitted, and

• (b) the 1981 Regulations have effect as if Parts II-V were omitted.

• (3) In this regulation “Interbus State” means a State, not being a member State, which is a contracting party to Interbus.

Use of a public service vehicle for regular, special regular or cabotage services for international operations

6

• (1) This regulation applies to a vehicle which is registered in a member State, an EEA State or an Interbus State, and which is being used in Great Britain in accordance with the RSR Protocol or the RPT Chapter for the provision of—

• (a) regular services, or

• (b) special regular services.

• (2) In relation to a vehicle to which this regulation applies—

• (a) the Transport Act 1985 has effect as if section 6 (registration of local services) were omitted, and

• (b) the Greater London Authority Act 1999 has effect as if Part IV (Transport) and Chapter V (regulation of bus services in Greater London) were omitted.

• (3) In this regulation “Interbus State” has the same meaning as in regulation 5.

Fees

7

• (1) An applicant for a relevant document must pay to the Confederation of Passenger Transport, when an application is made to the Confederation of Passenger Transport, a fee of such amount as may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, be required by it.

• (2) An applicant for a relevant document must pay to the Secretary of State, when an application is made to the Secretary of State, a fee of such amount as may be required.

• (3) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) the fee must be no more than the reasonable cost of processing that application.

• (4) In this regulation “relevant document” means—

• (a) a control document,

• (b) an authorisation,

• (c) a journey form, or

• (d) a waybill.

Control documents for cabotage operations

8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Issue of a Community licence and authorisation

9

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Withdrawal of a Community licence

10

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Rights of appeal

11

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supply of information for a Community licence application

12

• (1) The competent authority may refuse to issue an authorisation to an applicant if the applicant fails to supply any information that the competent authority may reasonably request pursuant to —

• (a) Article 9(3) of the RSR Protocol; or

• (b) Article 478(3) of the RPT Chapter.

• (2) The holder of an authorisation must supply such information as the competent authority may reasonably require from time to time to enable the authority to decide whether the holder is entitled to retain the ... authorisation.

• (3) A person who fails to supply any information required under paragraph (2) may have the ... authorisation, and any certified true copies of it, withdrawn by the competent authority.

Power to stop

13

• (1) Paragraph (2) applies if it appears to a stopping officer that a vehicle is being used in circumstances such that—

• (a) an operator’s licence for the international carriage of passengers by road,

• (b) an authorisation, or

• (c) a control document,

may be required.

• (2) The stopping officer may direct the driver to stop the vehicle so that an authorised inspecting officer can conduct checks as to whether an offence has been committed under these Regulations.

• (3) In this regulation “stopping officer” means an officer appointed under section 66B of the Road Traffic Act 1988 ,

Death, bankruptcy etc. of holder of Community licence

14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amendment of certain enactments

15

• (1) The Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972 is amended as follows.

• (2) In Schedule 1 (provisions conferring functions on examiners) after the entry relating to Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 insert—

Article 18 of the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement) (OJ No.L321, 26.11.2002, p.13)	To require the presentation of certain control documents and authorisations, which are required to be kept on board certain passenger vehicles.
Article 20 of the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement)	To require the presentation of a certified true copy of a licence to perform carriage by means of certain international occasional services, which is required to be kept on board certain passenger vehicles.
---	---

• (3) In Schedule 2 (provisions relating to vehicles and their drivers)—

• (a) for the entry relating to regulation 4 of the Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011, substitute—

Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services, and amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006	Requirement to keep a certified true copy of a Community licence in a vehicle and present it at the request of any authorised inspecting officer.

• (b) for the entry relating to regulation 10 of the Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011, substitute—

Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services, and amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006	Requirement to keep a journey form on board a vehicle and present it at the request of any authorised inspecting officer.

Offences

16

• (1) A person is guilty of an offence if that person breaches a provision of—

• (a) Interbus set out in Schedule 2;

• (b) the RSR Protocol set out in Schedule 3; or

• (c) the RPT Chapter set out in Schedule 4.

• (2) It is an offence—

• (a) intentionally to obstruct any person acting in the execution or enforcement of these Regulations;

• (b) without reasonable cause, to fail to give to any such person any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require for those purposes;

• (c) to furnish to any such person information knowing it to be false or misleading; or

• (d) to fail to produce a document or record to any such person when required to do so.

Offence by bodies corporate and partnerships

17

• (1) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of an officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act as an officer of the body corporate, that officer or person (as well as the body corporate) is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

• (2) If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) applies in relation to the acts and omissions of a member in connection with the member's functions of management as it applies to an officer of the body corporate.

• (3) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a Scottish partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, that partner as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

• (4) In this regulation “officer” in relation to a body corporate means a director, secretary of other similar officer of the body corporate.

Penalties

18

A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

SCHEDULE 1 — Offences for breach of Regulation 1073/2009

Provision of Regulation 1073/2009	Subject matter
Article 4(1) and (3)	International carriage of passengers subject to possession of a Community licence
Article 5(1)	Requirement for an authorisation for the provision of regular services
Article 5(3)	Requirement of some occasional services providing parallel or temporary services to have an authorisation
Article 5(5)	Requirement for own-account transport operations to be subject to a system of certification
Article 6(6)	Authorisation to operate a regular service and the documents to be carried
Article 11(1)	Requirement of an operator providing regular services to comply with the conditions of an authorisation
Article 11(2)	Requirement of an operator providing regular services to provide information to passengers
Article 12(1)	Control documents required for the operation of occasional services
Article 12(2)	Requirement on the operator to complete a control document prior to each journey undertaken
Article 12(3)	Requirement for information to be included in a control document
Article 12(6)	Control documents required for the operation of special regular services
Article 15(c)	Provision of authorised regular service cabotage operations
Article 17(1)	Control documents required to be carried for the provision of occasional cabotage operations
Article 17(2)	Requirement for information to be included in a control document
Article 17(4)	Control documents required to be carried for the provision of special regular services cabotage
Article 18	Requirement to provide either individual or collective transport tickets when providing regular services
Article 19	Authorisation or control document required for inspection on the road

SCHEDULE 2 — Offences for breach of Interbus

Provision of Interbus	Subject matter
Article 5	Requirement for vehicles used for international occasional services to comply with technical standards
Article 7(1)	Authorisation for non-liberalised occasional services
Article 10	Control documents required for operating liberalised occasional services exempted from authorisation
Article 12(3)	Correct completion of control documents
Article 13	Correct completion of control documents
Article 18	Authorisation or control document required for inspection on the road
Article 20	Requirement to possess a true copy of a licence to be carried for the purposes of international occasional services

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Nusrat Ghani — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — 2018-12-19

We consent

Paul Maynard — Mike Freer — Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury — 2018-12-19

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I.1996/266 to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00002]: 1972 c.68; Section 2(2) was amended by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c.51), section 27(1)(a) and the European Union (Amendment) Act 2008 (c.7), section 3(3) and the Schedule, Part 1.