Schedule 2—Taxi licence allocation procedure
(1) In this
Schedule—
beneficiary includes—
(a) the
object of a discretionary trust; or
(b) a
person who will take or acquire an interest in default of an appointment under
a discretionary trust.
(2) For the purposes
of this Schedule, a person has an interest in a tender if—
(a) the
person is a tenderer under the tender; or
(b) the
person and a tenderer under the tender are close associates.
(3) For the purposes
of this Schedule, 2 persons are close associates if—
(a) they
are related corporations for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 of the
Commonwealth; or
(b) they
are in partnership; or
(c) 1 is
an agent of the other; or
(d) 1 is
a body corporate and the other is a director of the body corporate; or
(e) they
are both trustees or beneficiaries of the same trust or 1 is a trustee and the
other is a beneficiary of the same trust; or
(f) a
chain of relationships can be traced between them under any 1 or more of the
above paragraphs.
(1) The Minister must,
at least 1 month before tenders close, by advertisement in
2 newspapers circulating generally throughout the State, call for tenders
for such number of taxi licences as the Minister has determined will be issued
according to the results of the tender.
(2) An advertisement
under subclause (1) must—
(a) fix
a time and date on which tenders close; and
(b)
specify the maximum number of taxi licences that the Minister has determined
that the Minister will issue according to the results of the tender; and
(c)
specify the kind or grade and the term of taxi licences that will be issued
according to the results of the tender; and
(i)
to be made in a manner and form determined by the
Minister (and specified in the advertisement); and
(ii)
to comply with other requirements imposed by the Minister
for the purposes of the tender (and specified in the advertisement or
contained in a document referred to in the advertisement and made reasonably
available to interested persons by the Minister); and
(iii)
to be accompanied by the tender fee specified in the
advertisement,
and may include other information determined by the Minister as being
appropriate in the particular circumstances.
Tenders will close at the time and date specified in the advertisement.
4—Process for dealing with tenders
(1) The Minister must
provide a locked box into which tenders are to be deposited.
(2) Each tender
must—
(a) be
enclosed in an envelope provided by the Minister and deposited by the
tenderers in the locked box provided by the Minister for that purpose; and
(b) be
otherwise made in the manner and form determined by the Minister and comply
with any other requirements imposed by the Minister (see clause 2(2)(d));
and
(c) be
accompanied by the tender fee specified in the advertisement.
(3) There must be 1
tender per envelope.
(4) The tender fee
must be provided in the form of a bank cheque made payable in a manner
specified by the Minister (unless otherwise permitted by the Minister).
(5) The Minister must
ensure that tenders deposited in the box are kept locked in the box until the
close of tenders.
(6) A person must not
interfere with or remove a tender from the box prior to the close of tenders.
(7) The Minister must
appoint 2 persons to carry out the process of determining the successful
tenderers.
(8) At the close of
tenders, 1 of the persons appointed by the Minister must—
(a) open
the locked box; and
(b)
remove each of the envelopes from the box, taking each 1 singly and at random;
and
(c)
after removing each envelope from the box, open the envelope and hand the
contents to the other person.
(9) At the close of
tenders, the other person must—
(a)
prepare a schedule of tenderers; and
(b) on
receiving the contents of each envelope, enter in the schedule—
(i)
the name of the tenderer; and
(ii)
alongside the name, the amount tendered,
arranging the entries in the schedule in the order in which the envelopes
containing the tenders were removed from the box; and
(c) when
all tenders have been removed from the box and the schedule of tenderers has
been completed, examine each tender and the schedule of tenderers.
(10) The
2 persons appointed by the Minister may reject any tender that does not
comply with a requirement imposed by this Schedule, or by the Minister for the
purposes of the tender.
(11) If a tender is
rejected under subclause (10)—
(a) an
entry recording that fact must be made in the schedule of tenderers; and
(b) the
tender will be disregarded for the purposes of the remaining provisions of
this Schedule.
(12) If only
1 licence is to be issued—
(a) the
amount payable for the licence is an amount equal to the highest amount
tendered; and
(b) the
successful tenderer will be the person who tendered an amount equal to the
highest amount.
(13) If only
1 licence is to be issued and more than 1 person tendered an amount equal
to the highest amount, of the persons who tendered an amount equal to the
highest amount, the person whose tender was removed from the box first will be
the successful tenderer.
(14) If more than 1
licence is to be issued and the number of tenderers is equal to the number of
licences to be issued—
(a) each
tenderer is a successful tenderer; and
(b) the
amount payable for a licence is the amount tendered.
(15) If the number of
tenderers exceeds the number of licences to be issued, the following
provisions apply:
(a) 1 of
the persons appointed by the Minister under subclause (7) must prepare a
schedule of tenders and enter in the schedule—
(i)
the amount of each tender commencing with the highest
amount tendered; and
(ii)
alongside each tender, the name of the tenderer;
(b) if
more than 1 person tendered the same amount, the order in which the names
of those tenderers are entered in the schedule will be determined according to
the order in which their tenders were removed from the box;
(c) the
persons whose names appear first on the schedule, having regard to the number
of licences to be issued, will be the successful tenderers;
(d) the
amount payable for a licence by a successful tenderer is the amount tendered
by that person.
(16) The Minister must
serve on each person who is a successful tenderer notice in writing requiring
the person—
(a) to
pay to the Minister—
(i)
within 7 days of receipt of the notice, a deposit of
10% of the amount tendered; and
(ii)
within 28 days of receipt of the notice, the balance
of the amount tendered and the appropriate prescribed application fee for a
licence under Part 6 of the Act; and
(b) if
the person is not an accredited person of the appropriate kind—to obtain
the necessary accreditation within 28 days of receipt of the notice.
(17) If 1 or more
successful tenderers fail to comply with a requirement of the notices served
under subclause (16)—
(a) in
respect of the tender, or each or any tender, to which the failure
relates—the tender will, subject to any determination or allowance of
the Minister, be taken to be withdrawn; and
(b) the
Minister may, at the Minister's discretion, treat as successful tenderers 1 or
more of the tenderers (if any) whose names next appear on the schedule of
tenders after the names of all other successful tenderers and accordingly
serve further notices under subclause (16) on those further successful
tenderers.
(18) The Minister may,
in connection with the operation of subclause (17), require a person
whose name appears on the schedule of tenders and who may be eligible to be
treated as a successful tenderer to furnish to the Minister within a time
specified by the Minister such information, verified by statutory declaration,
as the Minister may require to determine whether the person has had an
interest in a tender for an amount equal to, or greater than, the amount of
the relevant tender and if a person fails to provide that information in
accordance with the requirements of the Minister or if the Minister determines
that the person has had an interest in such a tender and the tender is a
tender that has been taken to be withdrawn under subclause (17)(a) then
the Minister may, if the Minister thinks fit, determine that the person will
not be treated as a successful tenderer under subclause (17)(b) (and that
determination will have effect according to its terms).
(19) If a person on
whom notice has been served under subclause (16)—
(a)
complies with the notice; and
(b)
satisfies the Minister that he or she is eligible to hold a taxi licence under
the Act and these regulations,
a taxi licence may be issued to the person.
(20) A person is not
entitled to a refund of a tender fee if the tender is rejected, withdrawn or
unsuccessful under this Schedule.