Fountainlife Terms and Conditions
Terms & Conditions apply to all services provided by Fountainlife operators must adhere to the
following conditions under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998.
- In these Conditions:- “These Conditions” means the standard terms and conditions of sale set out
in this document and (unless the context otherwise requires) includes any special terms and
conditions agreed in writing between the Passenger and the Operator; “The Passenger” means the
person who accepts a quotation or offer of the Operator for the sale of Services or whose order for
the Services is accepted by the Operator; “The Operator” means Fountainlife. “The Contract” means
the contract for the provision of school transfer services under these Conditions; “The Service”
means the service of transport to or from schools (including any instalment of the service or any
multiple services) which the Operator is to supply in accordance with these Conditions;
1.1 The operator shall enter into a contractual obligation as principal with the person making the
private hire booking to provide the journey which is the subject of the booking and any such
contractual obligation must be consistent with the 1998 Act and these Regulations.”
1.2 A contract will exist even if it is not recorded in writing and the same requirements apply to
operators who orally agree arrangements with passengers as they do to those who have written
terms.
1.3 The London PHV operator (Fountainlife) is responsible for both accepting the booking as well as
the provision of the journey (this is referred to by some operators and referred to in the rest of
this guidance as the “transportation services”)
1.4 Fountainlife will contract directly with passengers and must do so on their own behalf as
opposed to on behalf of someone else (e.g. a driver). - Bookings
a) a London PHV operator must – itself – accept bookings from its passengers, rather
than anyone else (e.g. a driver) doing so;
b) a London PHV operator must – itself – take responsibility for the journey from point A to
point B, rather than anyone else (e.g. a driver) doing so;
c) the booking must be carried out in a London licensed PHV (or taxi) driven by a London
licensed driver; and
d) the booking must be carried out for a fare which was either agreed or for which an
accurate estimate was provided in advance.
e) The fares for the journey are either being collected by the operator or collected by the driver
on behalf of the operator, including arrangements where the driver acts as the agent for the
operator in collecting fares;
f) Only the operator can cancel a booking with a passenger, (although the driver may reject an
offer from the operator to carry out a particular journey)
g) The liability in relation to the transportation services belongs to the operator (Fountainlife)
and not any other party (driver or passenger).
Records - The record required to be kept by the operator must be kept either electronically or in a suitable
book.
The pages of the book must be numbered consecutively. The operator must make sure the following
details are entered before the start of each journey:
a) The time and date of the booking;
b) The name of the hirer;
c) How the booking was made (i.e. by telephone, personal call, etc.);
d) The time of pick-up;
e) The point of pick-up;
f) The destination;
g) The time at which a driver was allocated for the booking;
h) The registration number or identity of the vehicle allocated for the booking;
i) Identity of driver;
j) Date of journey where different from (a);
k) Remarks (including details of any subcontract.
Records of bookings must be kept for a period of 12 months from the date of the journey.
Vehicles - The record required to be kept by the operator should contain the following details:
a) manufacturer, model and colour;
b) registration number;
c) registered keeper (e.g. name and address or registration document);
d) date when vehicle became available to operator;
e) copy of current MoT certificate;
f) copy of current valid certificate of insurance
g) date vehicle ceased to be available to the operator
Records of a private hire vehicle must be kept for a period of twelve months from the date the
private hire vehicle ceased to be available to the operator.
Drivers - The record required to be kept by the operator under Section 55(3) must contain the following
details:
a) name;
b) date of birth;
c) address (or normal place of residence);
d) date driver became available to operator;
e) national insurance number;
f) driving licence number and category of vehicle for which eligible to drive;
g) photograph of driver;
h) date driver ceased to be available to the operator.
Records of a private hire driver must be kept for a period of twelve months from the date the driver
ceased to be available to the operator.
Operators must provide details to the TFL of any licensed driver whose services are dispensed with
by the operator, where the circumstances of the driver’s dismissal related to the driver’s
unsatisfactory conduct.
Lost property - Operators must establish a procedure for dealing with passengers’ lost property.
This includes evidence that an attempt has been made to return the property to the owner, and a
system for recording and storing property which has been found.
Records of all property lost or found in a private hire vehicle must be kept for a minimum period of
twelve months from the date the item was reported lost or found.
Standards of service - The operator should provide a prompt, efficient and reliable service to members of the public at
all reasonable times and must in particular: –
a) Ensure that the private hire vehicle attends punctually at the appointed time and place, unless
there is reasonable cause for delay
b) Keep the ‘booking office’ and ‘waiting room’ clean, adequately heated, ventilated and lit.
c) Ensure that any waiting area provided by the operator has adequate seating facilities.
d) Ensure that any telephone facilities and radio equipment provided are maintained in a sound
condition and that any defects are repaired promptly.
e) Operators must indicate clearly at the operating centre or within any advertising or promotion of
their services that the service provided is in respect of pre-booked journeys only.
f) Display the Licence
g) Display the Public Liability Insurance.
h) Details of the fare for a particular hiring should be given to the hirer by the operator when the
booking is being made, if requested by the hirer.
i) Operators must establish a complaints procedure, ensuring that all complaints include the driver’s
name, licence number, nature of complaint, details of complainant and action taken.
j) Records of all complaints must be kept for a minimum period of twelve months from the date of
complaint.
Change of address - The operator must tell the TFL in writing of any change of his/her address (including any address
from which he/she operates or otherwise conducts his/her business as an operator) during the
period of the licence within seven days of such change taking place.
Convictions - The operator must tell the TFL in writing within seven days about any conviction imposed on him
(or if the operator is a company or partnership, on any secretary of the company and any of the
directors or partners) during the period of the licence.
In addition note:
d) To ‘operate’ a private hire vehicle is to make provision in the course of business for the invitation
or acceptance of bookings for it;
e) This licence is granted to a particular person and cannot be sold or transferred. Therefore, for
example, a new owner of the business must apply for a new licence.
f) The carrying of a business may need planning permission. Operators must comply with all relevant
legislation.
g) The operator shall notify the TFL of any material change in the circumstances on the basis of
which the licence was granted. In particular the operator must inform the TFL of:
i) any change in the nature of the business carried on by him; or
ii) any changes of director or company secretary, if a company
iii) any other change in the information given by the operator to the TFL at the time of granting the
current licence.
Compliance - Fountainlife will ensure that they comply with the law as confirmed by the Divisional Court (and
as outlined above) and they will be asked to provide evidence of their compliance to TfL. - Without prejudice to the generality of the previous condition, the operator shall, in particular:
a) provide adequate information and communications, technology, facilities and staff, as appropriate
for the level of operation of the business;
b) ensure the highest level of customer service and care;
c) ensure that when a private hire vehicle has been hired, to be in attendance at an appointed time
and place, the vehicle shall, unless delayed or prevented by sufficient cause, punctually attend at
that appointed time and place;
d) keep clean, adequately heated, ventilated and lit any premises which the operator provides and
to which the public have access, whether for the purposes of booking or waiting;
e) ensure that any waiting area provided by the operator has adequate toilet and seating facilities
that are physically separate from any drivers resting area and the operations room;
f) display the private hire operator’s licence in a prominent position at any premises from which the
operator operates. Any personal details such as home address of - Advertising
The operator shall not use any advertising or promotional material, letter heading or other
stationery or business name which includes the words ‘taxi’ ‘tacsi’ or ‘cab’ whether used in the
singular or the plural, or in conjunction with another word or forming part of a word making up the
said business name. - Convictions
The operator (or where the operator is a company or partnership, the
Secretary or any of the Directors or Partners) shall, during the period
of the licence, disclose to the TFL in writing, within 48 hours,
details of his:
a) arrest and release,
b) charge,
c) summons,
d) acquittal following a criminal case heard by a court,
e) convictions,
f) binding overs,
g) cautions,
h) warnings,
i) reprimands,
j) orders within the criminal law (including antisocial behaviour orders or similar) and
k) fixed penalties imposed on him - Sub-Contracting Private Hire Bookings
1) Operators are allowed to sub-contract bookings to other
operators within the licensed. The operator may not, however, pass on the obligation to protect
children and vulnerable adults when subcontracting bookings.
2) The operator must keep a record of all such sub-contracts either to another operator or from
another operator and that record must include the:
a) date/time of booking
b) details of booking,
c) name of hirer
d) details of operator sub-contract to/from
e) details of the driver/car completing the hiring
The records shall be retained for no less than 12 months and made available to an authorised officer
of the tfl or Police Constable on request.
3) For any company that the operator intends to sub-contract to,
the operator must obtain evidence that the company has
comparable protections to their own in place for children and
vulnerable adults. - Incidents and complaints.
The operator shall keep a record of all incidents that may give rise to complaints, complaints made
against the operator or driver, and record all lost property reports and property found, and shall:
1) ensure that details of how a customer may contact the operator in the event of any complaint
relating to a contract for hire or purported contract for hire relating to or arising from his business,
are displayed on the operator’s website, booking app or in the absence of online booking platform,
at the booking office.
2) preserve all records for a period of not less than 12 months following the date of the last entry;
3) keep the records on a suitable computer with printout facilities in addition to or instead of a
suitable book or ledger, the pages of which must be numbered consecutively;
4) make all records available for inspection by any authorised TFL Officer or by any Police Constable;
5) on receipt of any complaint from a member of the public (whether received personally, on the
telephone or in writing) relating to any one or more of the following
a) the operator’s business premises;
b) his facilities within his premises;
c) the state or cleanliness of any of his vehicles or drivers;
d) the terms and conditions of any contract or purported contract of hire;
e) any other matter relating to any contract or purported contract for hire;
f) any other matter relating to his business investigate the complaint with due diligence and notify
the complainant in writing of the outcome of his investigations and any measures he proposes to
take to remedy the complaint. The investigation of any complaint must be initiated within 48
hours of its receipt from the complainant.
6) notify the TFL within 48 hours if they receive a complaint about the driver of a vehicle operated by
them when it has been identified that the complaint relates to any of the following:
a) allegations of sexual misconduct (including the use of sexualised language)
b) racist behaviour
c) violence (including verbal aggression)
d) dishonesty including theft
e) equality breaches
f) any other serious misconduct (including motoring related for example dangerous driving or drink
driving).
7) notify the complainant of his right to forward the complaint to the TFL if the complaint is not
resolved to his satisfaction but in the case of a licensed driver, the operator must notify the
complainant immediately of their right to direct their complaint to the TFL
8) enter the following particulars of every complaint received by him in the complaints book or
ledger:
a) the date and time the complaint was received, and the name of the person receiving and
recording the complaint
b) the name and address of the complainant;
c) how the complaint was made (i.e. personally by telephone or in writing);
d) Details of the complaint, including time and date of thealleged incident and the name of the
alleged perpetrator;
e) the details of any relevant booking relating to the complaint;
f) remarks (if any);
g) any measures taken to remedy the complaint
h) if the complaint was referred to the TFL, the time and date of when it was referred and by whom;
i) the date the complaint was resolved.
9) comply with all reasonable directions of an authorised TFL officer or Police Constable investigating a complaint received by the passenger /member of the public.
