Cabinet lifts freeze on PSV permit for licensed hire, licensed rental, licensed minibus and licensed carriers

Cabinet lifts freeze on PSV permit for licensed hire, licensed rental, licensed minibus and licensed carriers Cabinet has approved the uplifting of the freeze on PSV permits specifically for licensed hire licensed minibuses, licensed rentals and licensed carriers.

The Cabinet has agreed that a review be undertaken for the remaining PSV permits, namely Road Route License, Licensed Taxis and Road Contract License before a decision is taken on the current freeze.

The Cabinet says a nationwide freeze on the issuance of PSV permits was implemented in 2011 to allow LTA to undertake a comprehensive review of the demand and supply of PSV permits and to assess and determine the future viability and sustainability of Fiji’s land transport industry given its various key players and their respective financial interests.

They say consequently, this comprehensive review was not undertaken, however, over the years, the LTA legislations were reviewed and comprehensive changes were made to the law and the way permits are operationalised.

It says LTA administers an estimated total of 8,816 permits nationwide and the majority of the permits administered are for the Central and Western Divisions.

Following a nationwide consultation, an uplift in the freeze for the licensed hire, licensed rentals, licensed minibuses and licensed carriers has now become a necessity particularly post-COVID, and due to the increase in activities within the tourism industry.

Cabinet says LTA is currently reviewing the processes and requirements for the remaining permits – Road Route License, Licensed Taxis and Road Contract License.

For the Road Route License and Road Contract License, the Road Route License guideline is currently under review.

It says the review will also require comprehensive consultation with all Road Route License permit holders prior to finalising the guideline. It adds that as part of the review, assessing and analysing Land Transport Appeals Tribunal decisions is precedence to improving the processes of dealing with all permits, particularly Road Route License.

Cabinet says due to the challenges faced for the issuance of taxi permits through the taxi barrel draw and the two standards of taxi permits in the country, LTA is currently undertaking a further review and identifying an alternative way to distribute taxi permits.

It says comprehensive consultations with relevant stakeholders such as the Ministry of Local Government, Municipal Councils, and i-Taukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB) to better identify and standardise the best standards for administering taxi permits will be undertaken.