The Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981

PART VE+W+SFEES

Fees for examinationsE+W+S

20.—(1) The fee payable for an examination of a vehicle pursuant to an application made under Regulation 12 is—

(a)in the case of a motor bicycle not having a side car attached to it, [F1£6.40;]

(b)save as provided in paragraph (4) in the case of a vehicle in Class VI,—

(i)if the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry more than 12 passengers, [F2£33,]

(ii)in any other case, [F3£23;]

(c)in any other case, [F4£10.70].

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this Regulation, every fee prescribed by paragraph (1) shall be paid—

(a)if the application is one to which item 1 in the Table to Regulation 12(1) applies, or is one (other than an application for a re-examination) to which item 2 in that Table applies, by a remittance accompanying the application;

(b)if the application is one to which Regulation 12(2) applies or, in the case of an application for a re-examination, is one to which item 2 in the Table to Regulation 12(1) applies—

(i)before the examination is carried out if the Secretary of State or the examiner or designated council by whom the examination is to be carried out so requires; and

(ii)after the examination is carried out in all other cases.

(3) Where, on an examination of vehicle other than a vehicle in Class VI, it is found that some or all of the prescribed statutory requirements are not complied with or where, in the circumstances mentioned in Regulation 16, a full examination of the braking system or systems of the vehicle is not carried out, then—

(a)if the vehicle is left at the vehicle testing station at which the examination took place so that the defects which have been revealed can be repaired, no fee shall be payable in respect of any further examination carried out there on the completion of those repairs,

(b)if the vehicle is removed from that vehicle testing station in consequence of the notice of refusal of a test certificate but, within 14 days of the date of issue of that notice it is brought to and left at that or some other vehicle testing station so that the defects which have been revealed by the examination can be repaired and a further examination of the vehicle is carried out there on the completion of those repairs, the fee payable in respect of that further examination shall be one half of the amount prescribed in paragraph (1).

(4) Where, on an examination of a vehicle in Class VI, it is found that some or all of the prescribed statutory requirements are not complied with, or where, in the circumstances mentioned in Regulation 16, a full examination of the braking system or systems of the vehicle is not carried out, then the fee payable in respect of a further examination shall be—

(a)if the vehicle is submitted for a further examination within 14 days of the date of the issue of the notice of refusal of a test certificate—

(i)if the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry more than 12 passengers, [F5£16.50,]

(ii)in any other case, [F6£11.50;]

(b)if the vehicle is not so submitted—

(i)if the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry more than 12 passengers, [F7£33,]

(ii)in any other case, [F8£23.]

[F9(5) Save as provided in paragraphs (5A) and (5B), the fees prescribed by paragraphs (1), (3)(b) and (4) shall be payable notwithstanding that the vehicle is not submitted for examination in accordance with any such appointment or arrangement as is mentioned in Regulation 12.

(5A) If, in the case of a vehicle not in Class VI, the applicant for the examination has not less than one day before the time so appointed or arranged given the examining authority notice (whether in writing or otherwise) that the applicant does not propose to submit the vehicle for examination at the time so appointed or arranged, the application shall be treated for the purposes of this Regulation as one in respect of which no fee is payable, and any amount previously paid in respect of such a fee shall be repayable by the examining authority to the applicant unless another time is arranged for the carrying out of the examination.

(5B) If, in the case of a vehicle in Class VI, the applicant—

(a)has not less than 7 days before the day fixed under these Regulations for the carrying out of the examination given the Secretary of State notice (whether in writing or otherwise) at the address from which the notice of the appointment was issued that the applicant does not propose to submit the vehicle for examination on that day, or

(b)satisfies the Secretary of State that the vehicle cannot, or, as the case may be, could not be submitted for the examination on the day or at the time fixed for the examination because of exceptional circumstances occurring not more than 7 days before the said time and of which the applicant gives notice to the Secretary of State (whether in writing or otherwise) at the said address within 3 days of the occurrence of those circumstances,

then the applicant may either—

(i)make an application in writing to the Secretary of State at the said address, either at the time of the notice given under sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph or within 28 days of the date thereof, for another examination of the same kind for that vehicle or another vehicle to be carried out within three months of the date of the application, and in that event the said fee shall be treated as having been paid in respect of that application unless the fee in respect of that application is greater, in which case the fee already paid shall be treated as having been paid towards the fee payable in respect of that application, or

(ii)give notice to Secretary of State at the place mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) above, and at the time of the notice given under sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph or within 28 days of the date thereof, that no other examination of the same kind is required for that vehicle or another vehicle, and in that event the said fee, less a sum of £1.50 for administrative expenses, shall be refunded to the applicant.]

(6) No fee shall be payable on an application for an examination of any vehicle, not being a vehicle in Class VI, in any case where in pursuance of any of the provisions of Regulation 13 an authorised examiner or the inspector appointed by a designated council or the Secretary of State does not carry out the examination, and any amount previously paid in any such case in respect of such a fee shall be repaid by the examining authority to the applicant.

(7) The fee prescribed in paragraph (4) shall not be payable if—

(a)the vehicle is submitted for a re-examination on the same day as the day on which an earlier examination of it occurred;

(b)the person by whom the re-examination is made was already at the premises at which the re-examination occurs for the purpose of carrying out an examination on another vehicle; and

(c)the re-examination relates only to one or more of the following requirements specified in Schedule 2:—

• The Lighting Requirements;

• The Stop Lamp Requirements;

• The Direction Indicator Requirements;

• The Windscreen Cleaning Requirements;

• The Audible Warning Instrument Requirements;

• The Class VI Vehicle Requirements in so far as they consist of the requirements specified in

(i)Regulations 18 and 98 (speedometers), 22 (view to the front), 23 and 24 (mirrors), and 97(1) in so far as it relates to the condition of the spare-wheel carrier and bumpers, of the Construction and Use Regulations.

[F10(ia)those specified in sub-paragraph (d) of item 12 in column (2)(b)]

(ii)Regulations 13, 23, and 24 (insofar as they relate to markings) 35 (fire extinguishing apparatus), 36 (first aid equipment) and 39 (insofar as it relates to the cleanliness of the interior of a vehicle) of the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulation 1981.

[F11(iii)the Lighting Regulations, Regulation 16, Schedule 1, item 1, and Schedule 11, Part I (obligatory rear fog lamps) and Regulation 17 and Schedule 11, Part II (optional rear fog lamps); and]

[F11(iv)the Lighting Regulations, Regulation 17 and Schedule 13 (reversing lamps).]

[F12(8) In this Regulation “exceptional circumstances” means an accident, a fire, an epidemic, severe weather, a failure in the supply of essential services or other unexpected happening (excluding a breakdown or mechanical defect in a vehicle or non-delivery of spare parts for a vehicle).]

Fees on appealsE+W+S

21.—(1) The fee payable on an appeal made in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 18 is the same amount as the fee payable under Regulation 20(1).

(2) Save as provided in paragraph (4), every fee prescribed by paragraph (1) as the fee payable on an appeal shall be paid at the same time as the appeal is made, and if that fee is not so paid the Secretary of State shall not be obliged to deal with the appeal.

(3) After the completion of the examination for the purposes of the appeal the Secretary of State may repay to the appellant, as he thinks fit, either the whole or a part of the fee paid on the appeal where it appears to him there are substantial grounds for contesting the whole or part of the decision appealed against.

(4) A fee payable on an appeal in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Regulation shall be payable notwithstanding that the vehicle is not submitted for examination in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 18:

Provided that if the appellant has before the time fixed under Regulation 18 for the carrying out of the examination given the Secretary of State not less than two days' notice (whether in writing or otherwise) at the office of the traffic area at which his appeal was lodged or if he has been given such a notice as is specified in Regulation 18(2), at the address specified in that notice as the address to which any communication relating to the appeal is to be sent, that the appellant does not propose to submit the vehicle for examination at that time, the appeal shall be treated for the purposes of this Regulation as one in respect of which no fee is payable and any amount previously paid in respect of such a fee shall be repaid by the Secretary of State to the appellant unless another time is arranged for the carrying out of the examination.