Private hire drivers working in Glasgow are being forced to park their licensed cars away from their homes due to issues with parking permits.
The Scottish Private Hire Association (SPHA) has hit out at Glasgow City Council's application process for permits for private hire cars branding the system as "impossible and unnecessarily obtuse".
Hundreds of licensed private hire drivers are being faced with a "stalemate" situation due to council policies differing between departments.
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Council policy currently requires the name on a vehicle's logbook to match the name on the private hire car licence.
However, many drivers are renting their vehicles from third-party vehicle owners meaning the name on the vehicle's licence issued by the council, and thus the logbook too, is a different name than that of the vehicle's day-to-day driver.
Eddie Grice, the General Secretary of the SPHA, says the system is impossible: "We've been battling this for almost a year now. Our members are putting in applications for parking permits and they are continuously rejected.
"We've contacted council staff in the Roads and Parking Department and explained to them how the licensing regime operates and asked them to put a workaround in place so that private hire drivers that rent their cars can obtain a permit. We've had Councillor involvement where they've attempted to persuade the council staff to play ball also. Everything we've tried to negotiate so far has failed. The system is impossible and unnecessarily obtuse.
"I've now been forced to write to the Civic Directors in the hopes they will pull the department's round the same table and find some way for this to work.
"These cars are lawfully licenced by one council department and then the drivers are being told by another department that they don't comply with other policies. It's utterly frustrating and it's causing drivers to have to park their legitimately licenced vehicles away from home. We are hopeful that a quick and easy resolution can be found before our drivers feel compelled to seek legal advice."
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “Residents applying for a parking permit require to show proof of address and also that their vehicle is registered with the DVLA at that address or subject to a formal leasing arrangement.
“Likewise, private hire cars must be also be registered with the DVLA in the name of the private hire car licence holder, whether that be a company representative or an individual.
“However, the Scottish Private Hire Association has been in touch with us directly and we will review the case that has been highlighted to us.”
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