The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) (S.I. 2002/2742) to make provision for notification of certain changes to registration documents online or by telephone. They also allow for vehicle traders, in certain circumstances, to notify the Secretary of State of these changes on behalf of the registered keeper. Provision is also made designating persons who are registered keepers of 50 or more vehicles as keepers of a fleet and for such fleet operators to be able to choose at first registration and/or following a relevant change, whether and when to have a new registration document issued, rather than have one issued as a matter of course, and the address to which such a document is to be issued.

Regulation 3 with regulation 12 amends regulation 3 of the 2002 Regulations—

• to insert a definition of “keeper of a fleet”; and

• to incorporate the definition of “vehicle trader” as previously defined by reference to and in regulation 20(6) of the 2002 Regulations so that that definition can be applied across those Regulations.

Regulations 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 14 amend, respectively, regulations 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22 and 24 of the 2002 Regulations to permit keepers of a fleet to—

• have the option of asking for a new registration document, rather than having one issued to them as a matter of course; and

• request that the registration document is sent to another address instead of that keeper’s registered address.

Regulations 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 13 amend respectively, regulations 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 22 of the 2002 Regulations to permit notifications of changes and applications in relation to registration, to be made by telephone (other than under regulation 17 of the 2002 Regulations) or online in which case there is no need to return the registration document.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 15 of the 2002 Regulations to update a reference to European legislation and to remove a redundant paragraph.

Regulations 8, 9 and 11 insert provisions into regulations 16, 17 and 18 of the 2002 Regulations that permit a vehicle trader by or to whom a vehicle is being sold to notify the Secretary of State on the registered keeper’s behalf.

Regulation 10 clarifies regulation 17A of the 2002 Regulations and removes the requirement to surrender the registration document at the same time that the Secretary of State is notified of the issue of a certificate of destruction.

Regulation 15 makes a consequential amendment to the Table in Schedule 8 to the 2002 Regulations to ensure that the offence in section 59(2)(a) of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 will continue to apply to fleet operators in relation to any alterations made to the vehicle that would have the effect of making any particulars held about the vehicle on the register incorrect in the absence of a registration document.

Two full impact assessments of the effect that these Regulations will have on costs of business and the voluntary sector are available from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Longview Road, Morriston, Swansea, SA6 7JL (telephone: [phone]) and are published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside these Regulations on the website www.legislation.gov.uk.