A director and transport manager has escaped with a warning over her repute after she allowed unauthorised use of her licence by disqualified directors. However, the licence of Paramount Transport Consultants was revoked following a public inquiry (PI) in Eastbourne before deputy traffic commissioner Anthony Seculer.
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatia appeared at the PI after it was discovered that a driver of one of the trucks specified on her licence had previously been disqualified and a second truck had links to a licence that had been revoked and its director also disqualified.
Bhatia did not dispute the evidence and admitted that she “succumbed to pressure” from the family of Rajwant Bath, who was disqualified for a year in 2015.
Bath wanted to use Bhatia’s licence to allow transport activities to be undertaken by the disqualified directors.
In his written decision, Seculer acknowledged that the unauthorised use was for a relatively short period of time, Bhatia was inexperienced and had been under pressure to agree to the arrangement and she had made a full admission at the PI.
“Allowing unauthorised use is a serious breach of the trust placed in operators and it is conceded that the repute of the operator company must be forfeit on the facts. I revoke the operator’s licence with immediate effect.”
Bhatia retained her personal repute as a director and transport manager. “The warning I place against her repute and professional competence as a transport manager is intended to be meaningful and a final chance,” Seculer added.
