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To drive a public service vehicle with 9 or more passenger seats “for hire or reward”, or commercially or professionallybefore 1 April 1991 the driver had to have a Public Service (PSV) Licence. Since that date the driver has had tohave a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) Licence which is essentially the D Category under the current category sysstudentsin their union: clubs and societies handbook 2002/39. minibuses – the legal requirementsIf your students’ union operates minibuses at any time you should and no doubt do know that there are some importantlegal requirements regarding licensing that you need to be aware of and may need to act upon.Operating a minibus which has between 9 and 16 passenger seats has two special licensing implications apart fromthe standard requirement imposed upon “the person keeping the vehicle” to obtain and display in the windscreen ofthe minibus a “vehicle licence”, or “tax disc” upon which “vehicle excise duty” or “road (fund) tax” has been paid.One of these additional licensing implications, like the “vehicle licence” or “tax disc” relates to the vehicle and thebasis on which it is operated, as such, and the other to the driver of the vehicle.the vehiclethe PSV operator’s licence and the section 19 small bus permit.An operator of a vehicle providing passenger transport “for hire and reward” will normally be regarded as a PublicService Vehicle (PSV) Operator, and require a PSV operators licence, which as might be expected, has very heavycost and regulatory implications. Non-profit organisations which satisfy certain conditions can avoid those implicationsby holding a Small Bus Permit issued under Section 19 of the Transport Act 1985, which in effect exempts theholder from holding a PSV operators licence.So, if your union operates a minibus with 9 to 16 passenger seats, you should make sure that it holds a Section 19Small Bus Permit in respect of such operation.Permits can be obtained for a very reasonable fee on making a formal application to NUS or the CommunityTransport Association, which are both designated bodies for such purpose under the relevant legislation, or to theTraffic Commissioner for the area in which your students’ union is situated.the driverThe PSV and PCV driver’s licence80