The O-licence held by Rajinder Banga, trading as Banga Buses has been curtailed for a month by the Traffic Commissioner (TC) for the West Midlands, Nick Jones. The decision follows a Public Inquiry (PI) in Birmingham on March 1.
Mr Jones curtailed the O-licence from 13 to 12 vehicles for the month of April, following an unsatisfactory maintenance investigation. However, he made no adverse findings in relation to bus punctuality and reliability. The TC also determined that the operator had retained his repute and professional competence.
A period of grace of 28 days was given to allow production of financial standing evidence.
The PI was called to consider investigations by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) into the operator’s maintenance standards and local bus services.
In November 2015, a vehicle examiner identified a number of shortcomings with the operator’s maintenance arrangements, including the issue of prohibitions and a poor pass rate at MOT.
An investigation into the operator’s local bus service punctuality and reliability revealed a compliance rate of 96%. An earlier investigation had indicated a non-compliance rate of 55%, but the TC identified that the operator’s response to the DVSA report would have amounted to a reasonable excuse.
