GOODS SERVICES LICENSES

Taranaki Daily News, 20 January 1933, Page 11

GOODS SERVICES LICENSES

NO IMMEDIATE ACTION LIKELY.

OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSALS.

It is not anticipated that any immediate action will be taken in the direction of gazetting the new regulations providing for the licensing of all goods services, proposed under the Transport Licensing Act of 1931. These regulations were circulated fdr the information of those interested in motor transport last October, but on the representations of these interests the Government agreed to withhold the regulations until they had been further considered. There has been some agitation concerning the supposed effort of the Government to bring down regulations involving the extension of harassing and unnecessary interference with the business of transport, by merely issuing an Order-in-Council. The position, however, is that under Part 3 of the Transport Licensing Act, 1931, which relates to goods services, the date of the coming into effect of this part of the Act and the administrative machinery for giving effect to its provisions were left to Order-in-Council. i Draft regulations were prepared, out the issue of the Order-in-Council to bring them into force was deferred for the special purpose of allowing the suggested regulations to receive full consideration by all concerned. , When the regulations Were circulated for comments and constructive criticism, the date for the receipt of such comment was fixed at November 30, and it was then thought that the regulations would be made effective within a few weeks of that date. Many of the comnanies onerating goods services and some of the local bodies protested against the proposals, and as others had tuft had the opportunity of considering the regulations requests were made that mor® time be given for their perusal. The Associated Chambers of Commerce at Wellington suggested to the Government that the proposals were sb far-reaching that they should be submitted to Parliament for consideration in the form of a Bill of reasonable and suitable charactcl** PROMISE BY MINISTER.

Toward the end of December the executive of the New Zealand Road transport Alliance conferred with the Minister of Transport, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, and the promise .was then made that certain of the clauses to which objection had been, taken would be redrafted and that a further opportunity would be given of considering the regulations in their amended form. Generally the regulations, propose to bring under control services operating for at least 15 miles on a main highway and services operating between the boundaries of any two boroughs or town districts, (provided these boundaries are more than Li miles apart, measured along the shortest available public road. _ It is considered by those interested in the motor industry that the regulation of goods transport is a much more difficult problem than the control of passenger services, as it would be very difficult to deVise a system that would confine the services to particular routes and between given points, as is the- case with passenger vehicles. It is generally agreed that s o , l * l ®, °£ services operating Will be eliminated, leaving the surviving service with what will Virtually be a monopoly. The duty of deciding on the services to be given the licenses will fall upon the authority to be set up under the regulations, but it is expected that once the regulations are gazetted the authority will hear evidence in support of the various appliOne of the main objections to the- regu-

lations as first issued was that they were designed largely to protect the railways against competition from road transport, and the contention has been put forward that if for this purpose services are suppressed; the Government will' lose revenue ’ amounting to approximately £90,000 in fees and taxation that it Will have to make up in other ways, and this

point has been stressed updfi the •. Government. . ' It is stated, however, that aft assurance has been given that there isnd intention to do anything, that -Will-rtr duce the Government’s revenue, s 6 that the final draft of the regulations is await? ed with some interest, e