By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE government will amend the Road Traffic Act to prevent people from renting their vehicles without obtaining a self-drive public service licence.

A Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was among the budget bills tabled in the House of Assembly last week.

The bill says: “An owner of a motor vehicle that has been registered and licensed as a private motor vehicle shall not cause or permit any other person to use his motor vehicle on any road for a fee, without first obtaining a self-drive public service licence, including where the use of the private motor vehicle is offered as an amenity to another product or service the owner is offering for sale.”

“An owner of a private motor vehicle who contravenes subsection (2a) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not less than $5,000 but not exceeding one thousand dollars.”

Ross Smith, a consultant and former controller in the Road Traffic Department, told The Tribune people frequently rent out their cars without obtaining a licence.

“Not just hackers,” he said, “but you have persons who rent their cars out to persons who, you know, they might have three or four cars and they don’t want to go and pay the licensing fees for them through the Road Traffic Department, which is the legal way to do it. They can try to circumvent the law by using them in that manner and anybody who is found using them in the manner will be prosecuted.”