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Last day for money-savers
Page 27
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APPLICATIONS for new 0 licences that have not been lodged with the DoE by today (Friday) stand less chance of escaping the new £12 a vehicle per year rates, according to the Department.
The applications should be made nine weeks before the new rates come into effect on May 1.
The new £12 fee will also apply to variations leading to more authorised vehicles. At the same time the fees for interim licences or directions become £2. The 0-licence fee was raised to £5 a vehicle in January last year; previously it was £4. This increase has proved inadequate to cover the costs of the procedure and the latest increases have been imposed to restore the system to a break-even position over the five-year currency which applies to most licences.
The DoE is also proposing to double the test fees from April 1. This could mean that fees for testing could go up from £5.50 to £11 for a motor vehicle, from £3.50 to £6.50 for trailers and the relevant retest fees increasing from £3.50 to £6.50 for motor vehicle and from £2 to £4 for trailers.
The Freight Transport Association has made a strong protest to the Department about the increases.
In many cases, the FTA points out, operators whose 0 licences were issued before January 1975 would face an effective increase of 200 per cent and there was no guarantee that yet another increase would not have been imposed before some of these licences came up for renewal.
The RHA has also protested strongly to the Department about the proposed increases. It, too, wishes to have more evidence in justification of the extra amounts demanded.
In representing the concern of the Association about the 140 per cent increase in 0licence fees, the RHA has asked for details of the deficit that has accrued to the system and the anticipated annual increases in costs over the next five years.