The areas for the time being comprised in the Auckland Transport District, the City of Wellington, the Christchurch Tramway District, and the City of Dunedin respectively, are hereby declared to be transport districts for the purposes of this Act, and shall be known as the Auckland Transport District, the Wellington Transport District, the Christchurch Transport District, and the Dunedin Transport District respectively.

The Governor-General may by Order in Council wholly divide the mainland of the North and South Islands (exclusive of the areas comprised in the transport districts constituted by the last preceding subsection) into such number of transport districts with such boundaries and such distinctive names as he thinks fit, and may include in any such district any outlying island forming part of the North Island or the South Island.

Save as hereinafter provided in this section, the Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council,—

On any alteration of the boundaries of the Auckland Transport District (as constituted by the Auckland Transport Board Act, 1928), or of the City of Wellington, or of the Christchurch Tramway District, or of the City of Dunedin,—

Save as provided in the last preceding subsection, the boundaries of any transport district constituted by subsection one of section three hereof shall not be altered under this Act by the exclusion therefrom of any area, other than an area added to such district under subsection one of this section, and no such district shall be merged or abolished under this Act:

Provided that on the body declared by subsection two of section six hereof to be the Licensing Authority for any such district ceasing, as provided in that subsection, to be such Licensing Authority this subsection shall cease to apply to such district.

There is hereby established a Central Licensing Authority for the purposes of this Act.

The Central Authority shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Minister, of whom one shall be appointed as Chairman.

There shall be a District Licensing Authority for each district.

The District Authority for the Auckland Transport District shall be the Auckland Transport Board, the District Authority for the Wellington Transport District shall be the Wellington City Council, the District Authority for the Christchurch Transport District shall be the Christchurch City Council, and the District Authority for the Dunedin Transport District shall be the Dunedin City Council (each such Board or Council in its capacity as such Licensing Authority being hereinafter in this Act referred to as a Metropolitan Authority):

Provided that on receipt of a special order in that behalf by any such Board or Council the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, declare that such Board or Council shall, as from a day named in such notice, cease to be a Licensing Authority under this Act, and thereupon the Licensing Authority of the district shall consist of three persons appointed by the Minister pursuant to the next succeeding subsection:

Provided further that any Metropolitan Authority may from time to time by resolution delegate to a Committee of not less than three or more than five of its members, subject to such conditions and directions as may be specified in such resolution, all or any of its powers, functions, and duties under this Act, and every such resolution shall have effect according to its tenor, and may at any time in like manner be amended or revoked.

Each District Authority shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Minister, of whom one shall be appointed as Chairman.

On the merger or abolition of any district the Licensing Authority thereof shall be deemed to be dissolved.

Nothing in sections eight to thirteen or in subsections one and two of section fourteen of this Act shall apply to any Metropolitan Authority or the members thereof, or to any committee to which such Metropolitan Authority delegates any of its powers, functions, or duties pursuant to the last preceding section.

No person shall be capable of being appointed to be or of being a member of the Central Authority or of any District Authority—

Every member of the Central Authority and of every District Authority shall be appointed for a term not exceeding three years, but shall be eligible for reappointment, unless incapacitated under the last preceding subsection.

The Minister may remove any member of any Licensing Authority from office for inability or misbehaviour.

If any person does any act as a member of any Licensing Authority, being incapacitated under the last preceding section, he shall be liable to a fine of fifty pounds, to be recovered with costs of suit by any person in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

Any member of any Licensing Authority may resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Minister, and in such case, or in case of his death or incapacity or removal from office, his office shall become vacant, and shall be filled by appointment by the Minister of a person qualified to fill the particular office vacated.

The publication in the Gazette of a notice of appointment signed by the Minister shall be conclusive evidence of the regularity of appointment of any person whose appointment is thereby notified, and the like publication of a notice of vacation of office shall be conclusive evidence that any person whose vacation of office is thereby notified has resigned his office or has been duly removed therefrom or has otherwise vacated his office in accordance with the terms of such notice.

In the case of illness or absence of the Chairman of any Licensing Authority, the Minister may appoint such person as he thinks fit (not being a person disqualified for appointment as a member of a Licensing Authority) to act as Chairman, and the Minister may, in the case of illness or absence of any other member, appoint any person qualified to be appointed to the particular office to act as the deputy of such member.

Every person so appointed shall, while such illness or absence continues, be deemed for all purposes to be a member of the Licensing Authority.

The provisions of subsections one and three of section eight and section eleven hereof shall apply with respect to every person appointed under this section.

The members of every Licensing Authority, other than officers in the service of the Government, shall be paid such allowances as may be prescribed, and all travelling-expenses reasonably incurred by them in respect of their attendance at meetings of the Licensing Authority and in transacting the business thereof.

All such amounts shall be paid out of moneys to be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

Every Licensing Authority shall hold meetings for the transaction of its business at such times and places as the Licensing Authority itself by resolution or the Chairman from time to time determines, and, save as provided in subsection five hereof, no decision of the Licensing Authority required to be given under this Act shall be given otherwise than by resolution passed at such a meeting and concurred in by at least two members.

At all meetings of any Licensing Authority two members (of whom one shall be the Chairman or the Acting Chairman) shall constitute a quorum.

A copy of any resolution of a Licensing Authority certified by the Chairman thereof to be correct shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of such resolution in any proceedings under this Act.

No act or proceeding of any Licensing Authority shall be invalidated in consequence of there being a vacancy in the membership thereof at the time of such act or proceeding or the subsequent discovery that any person acting as a member of such Licensing Authority was then disqualified or had vacated his office.

The Chairman may in any case of urgency grant on behalf of the Licensing Authority any temporary license, but shall report such grant to the next meeting of the Licensing Authority.

Save as may be provided by this Act or by regulations under this Act, every Licensing Authority may regulate its own procedure.

Every Licensing Authority shall in the month of April in each year furnish to the Minister an annual report containing such particulars with respect to matters dealt with by it during the preceding twelve months as the Minister from time to time directs.

There is hereby established a Transport Appeal Board for the purposes of this Act.

The Appeal Board shall consist of three persons to be appointed by the Governor-General, of whom—

The decision of the Minister as to whether or not any person has been duly nominated for the purposes of the last preceding subsection shall be final.

The provisions of sections eight to fourteen of this Act with regard to Licensing Authorities and the members thereof shall, with the necessary modifications and so far as the same are applicable, apply to the Appeal Board and the members and meetings thereof.

The functions of the Appeal Board shall be to hear and determine all appeals duly lodged in accordance with this Act against the decisions of Licensing Authorities.

Save as provided in the next succeeding section or in subsection three of section sixty-one of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any person to carry on in any part of New Zealand—

Every person who, contrary to the provisions of this section, carries on any passenger-service commits an offence, and is liable to a fine of one hundred pounds, and to a further fine of ten pounds for every day on which such offence is committed.

If any company carries on any passenger-service contrary to the provisions of this section every director or other person acting in the management of the business shall, in addition to any penalty to which the company may be liable, be liable to a fine of ten pounds for every day on which such service is so carried on.

A passenger-service license shall not be required in the case of—

Save as provided in the next succeeding section, the granting of passenger-service licenses shall be a function of—

Notwithstanding anything contained in the last preceding section, the granting of any passenger-service license to carry on a passenger-service wholly within the Auckland Transport District and any one contiguous district shall be a function of the Licensing Authority of such contiguous district.

For the purposes of this section a district shall be deemed to be contiguous to the Auckland Transport District notwithstanding that it may be separated therefrom by any part of Waitemata Harbour.

Every application for a passenger-service license shall be in the prescribed form, and, save as provided in subsection four hereof, shall unless the Minister otherwise directs be addressed and forwarded to the Commissioner accompanied by the prescribed fee.

The Commissioner shall, on being satisfied that the application is duly made, transmit the same to the proper Licensing Authority, but may in any case before so doing require the applicant to furnish such further information or particulars as may, in the opinion of the Commissioner, be necessary to enable the Licensing Authority to come to a proper decision.

The Commissioner shall in every case place before the Licensing Authority all such information at his disposal (whether obtained from the applicant or not) as will assist the Licensing Authority in dealing with the application.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, every application for any license to be granted by a Metropolitan Authority shall be made direct to that authority, and an application for a temporary license may, in such cases as are prescribed by regulations in that behalf, be made direct to the appropriate Licensing Authority.

On receiving an application for a passenger-service license, other than an application for a temporary license, the Licensing Authority shall, in the prescribed form, give not less than three clear days’ public notice of the receipt of such application, fixing in such notice a time and place at which it will hold a public sitting for the purpose of receiving evidence and representations in favour of, or against the granting of, the application by persons who in the opinion of the Licensing Authority are directly interested, and shall also give not less than three clear days’ notice of such time and place to the applicant.

The Licensing Authority shall hold such public sitting in such place as it deems most convenient, having regard to the nature of the business.

At such public sitting the Licensing Authority shall hear all evidence tendered and representations made which it deems relevant to the subject-matter of the application, save that at any time during such sitting it may decide not to receive further evidence or representations.

Any such sitting may, in the discretion of the Licensing Authority, be adjourned from time to time and from place to place.

In considering any application for a passenger-service license the Licensing Authority shall generally have regard to—

and if it is then of opinion that the proposed service is unnecessary or undesirable it shall refuse to grant a license.

If after having had regard to the matters mentioned in the last preceding subsection the Licensing Authority proposes to give further consideration to the application, it shall take into account—

The Central Authority in considering any application shall also take into account any representations made to it by the Licensing Authority of any district through any part of which the service is to be carried on.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, no Licensing Authority otherwise empowered in that behalf by this Act shall grant any passenger-service license authorizing the holder thereof to carry passengers whose journey both begins and ends within any district the Licensing Authority of which is a Metropolitan Authority unless such Metropolitan Authority consents to the granting of such license.

Every application by or on behalf of the Government, or the Government Railways Board, or a local authority, or other public body for a passenger-service license shall be given preference over all other applications for such licenses if—

Save as otherwise provided in this section, and subject to appeal as hereinafter in this Act provided, the Licensing Authority may, after duly considering an application therefore, grant or refuse a passenger-service license.

A passenger-service license shall not be refused if the applicant satisfies the Licensing Authority that the application is for a license for a service solely in substitution for an existing tramway service which the applicant has been duly authorized to discontinue.

A passenger-service license shall not be refused in any case where the applicant (having made bis application before the appointed day) satisfies the Licensing Authority—

Provided that no such service shall be deemed to have ceased to be continuously carried on by reason of any interruption by flood, closing of roads or streets, or any other cause whatever beyond the control of the applicant.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the two last preceding subsections the Licensing Authority in granting a license to any person in respect of a service mentioned therein shall have the same power of imposing terms and conditions as it has under this Act with respect to any other passenger-service.

Every passenger-service license shall be—

In granting any passenger-service license the Licensing Authority shall prescribe—

Where desirable in the public interest the Licensing Authority may so fix the fares and time-tables as to prevent wasteful competition with alternative forms of transport of any kind (if any), and may impose such conditions as it thinks fit to ensure that passengers shall not be taken up or shall not be set down, except at specified points, or shall not be taken up or shall not be set down between specified points.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, the Licensing Authority shall, where necessary, so fix the fares that the fares charged (however computed) for the carriage of adult passengers over any route or section thereof within an area that may be conveniently served in whole or in part by an existing tramway service carried on by any local authority or other public body shall be at least twopence more than the corresponding fare charged in respect of the tramway service.

Every license shall be in the prescribed form, and be signed on behalf of the Licensing Authority by the Chairman or two other members thereof, or by an officer of the Licensing Authority acting by direction thereof, and shall take effect according to its tenor to authorize the licensee, but no other person, to carry on a passenger-service in accordance with the terms and conditions of the license during the duration thereof:

Provided that the license shall not be issued to a licensee until the Licensing Authority is satisfied that a certificate of fitness, or a permit under subsection one of section thirty-eight hereof, in respect of each passenger-service vehicle to be used in connection with the service has been duly granted.

Save as provided in section twenty-three hereof, no license granted by a District Authority shall have any force or effect to authorize the carrying-on of a passenger-service outside the district of that authority, and no license issued by the Central Authority or any District Authority shall operate to authorize the use on any road or street of any passenger-service vehicle prohibited by virtue of any classification of roads or streets made pursuant to regulations under section one hundred and sixty-six of the Public Works Act, 1928, from using such road or street.

It shall be a condition of every license (whether inserted therein or not) that the licensee will not abandon or curtail the authorized service without the consent of the proper Licensing Authority, to which he shall give not less than twenty-eight days’ notice of his intention to abandon or curtail the service.

If any licensee abandons or curtails any service in breach of the last preceding subsection the Licensing Authority shall revoke his license, and the Central Authority may, in its discretion,—

and may either in lieu of or in addition to any such penalty impose a monetary penalty not exceeding twenty-five pounds, which may be recovered in any Court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Crown.

The Commissioner shall, in accordance with regulations in that behalf, keep such registers of licenses issued under this Part of this Act as are prescribed by such regulations.

The contents of every such register may be evidenced in any proceedings by a certificate under the hand of the Commissioner, and every such certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the matters stated therein.

A certificate under the hand of the Commissioner that on a date specified in such certificate the name of any person did not appear in any register as the holder of a license under this Part of this Act shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that such person was not the holder of such a license on that date.

Except in the case of a temporary license, every passenger-service license when issued on a quarter-day shall take effect on that day, and in every other case shall be deemed to have taken effect on the quarter-day immediately preceding the date on which the license is issued, and in each such case shall, unless sooner revoked, or unless expressed to expire at any earlier date, expire on the completion of twelve months after the quarter-day on which it took effect, save that a license granted in accordance with subsection three of section twenty-eight hereof shall, unless sooner revoked, expire on the completion of twelve months after the appointed day if the license is for a passenger-service in the North Island, and on the completion of eighteen months after the appointed day if the license is for a passenger-service in the South Island:

Provided that where application for the renewal of a license is duly made in accordance with section thirty-five hereof, such license shall, where the application for renewal is not disposed of before the date of expiry of the license, continue in force until the application is disposed of unless the Licensing Authority otherwise directs.

The Licensing Authority during the currency of a passenger-service license may, of its own motion or on the application of the licensee, amend or revoke any of the terms or conditions of such license or add any new terms and conditions which in its opinion are necessary in the public interest.

The Licensing Authority shall give to the licensee, and to every other person who in its opinion is likely to be affected, seven days’ notice of its intention to exercise any power conferred on it by this section.

Every such amendment or revocation, or addition of new terms and conditions made pursuant to this section, shall be noted in the appropriate register.

Every application for the renewal of a passenger-service license shall be made in the prescribed form to the proper Licensing Authority not less than fourteen nor more than twenty-eight days before the day on which such license expires. Every such application, other than an application to a Metropolitan Authority, shall be forwarded through the Commissioner unless the Minister otherwise directs.

Application for the renewal of a passenger-service license shall be made to the Central Authority where at the date of the application the service is being carried on within two or more districts (unless it is for the renewal of a license to which section twenty-three of this Act applies, in which case the application shall be made to the District Authority by which the license was granted), and in every other case shall be made to the appropriate District Authority.

Section twenty-five hereof shall apply to every application for the renewal of a passenger-service license as if it were an application for a new license.

No person shall be entitled as of right to a renewal of a passenger-service license, and in considering any application for renewal a Licensing Authority shall take into account all that it is directed by section twenty-six hereof to take into account in considering an original application for a license.

In granting any renewal of a passenger-service license the Licensing Authority may either endorse the existing license or it may issue a new license in lieu thereof, but any such new license shall show on the face thereof that it is in renewal of a license.

The renewal of any license shall take effect for a period of not more than twelve months from the expiry of the license in renewal of which it is granted, but any such renewal may be granted in advance to take effect as aforesaid.

Any Licensing Authority may at any time, and if so directed by the Minister shall, hold a public inquiry as to whether or not any passenger-service carried on under the authority of a license under this Part of this Act, granted by such Licensing Authority, is being carried on in conformity with the terms and conditions of the license.

Not less than fourteen clear days’ public notice of the day, time, and place fixed for such inquiry shall be given in one or more newspapers having a regular circulation in the localities served by such passenger-service, and particulars of the matters proposed to be inquired into shall be given in writing to the licensee not later than ten days before the day on which the inquiry is to be held.

For the purposes of such inquiry the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, shall, so far as they are applicable, apply as if the Licensing Authority were a Commission of Inquiry appointed under that Act.

If as a result of such inquiry the Licensing Authority is satisfied that the licensee is not carrying on the service in all respects in conformity with the license, or that he has disposed of such service to any other person, then the Licensing Authority may revoke such license.

Instead of revoking any license as aforesaid, the Licensing Authority may suspend the same for such period as it thinks fit, and it may, in any case, without holding such inquiry as aforesaid, so suspend any license if it is satisfied that the licensee has wilfully committed a breach of any of the conditions of the license.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, a license shall be deemed to be revoked if the passenger-service authorized by it is not commenced on the due date therefor stated in the license.

Every revocation or suspension of a passenger-service license shall be noted in the appropriate register, and shall be notified by the Licensing Authority to the Superintendent of Police in whose district or area the service to which such license relates is carried on.

The Governor-General may make regulations prescribing the accounts and records in relation to a passenger-service that the Minister may require to be kept by persons carrying on a passenger-service pursuant to a license under this Act, and prescribing the financial and statistical returns that the Minister may require to be made to him by such persons.

Every person carrying on any passenger-service pursuant to a license under this Act shall keep such of the prescribed accounts and records in relation thereto as the Minister may from time to time, by notice published in the Gazette, require, and shall make to the Minister in such manner and at such times as the Minister may from time to time notify by writing under his hand, addressed to such person, such of the prescribed financial and statistical returns as the Minister may in such notice require him to make.

Every person who fails to comply with any of the requirements of the Minister pursuant to this section commits an offence and is liable to a fine of twenty pounds, and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine of five pounds for every day during which the offence continues.

After the appointed day no person shall (save as provided in section twenty-one hereof) use any passenger-service vehicle for the carriage of passengers except in connection with a passenger-service carried on under the authority of a passenger-service license, and no person shall use any such vehicle in connection with any such service unless it is the actual vehicle or one of the vehicles specified in such license, and in no case (except a case of emergency) shall any person use any passenger-service vehicle (whether in connection with a licensed passenger-service or not) unless a certificate of fitness as hereinafter provided has been issued and is in force with respect to such vehicle:

Provided that in the case of any passenger-service vehicle lawfully in use on the appointed day, or in any other case where he deems it expedient so to do, the Commissioner may grant a permit for such vehicle to be used in connection with any passenger-service without a certificate of fitness for such period as is specified in the permit.

Every person who uses any passenger-service vehicle contrary to the provisions of this section commits an offence and is liable to a fine of one hundred pounds, and to a further fine of ten pounds for every day on which such offence is committed.

Certificates of fitness in respect of passenger - service vehicles shall be issued by the Commissioner or by an officer or officers authorized by him in that behalf, and by no other person.

No such certificate shall be issued, save upon—

Every certificate of fitness shall be in the prescribed form, save that where the vehicle is to be used in connection with a passenger-service the certificate may take the form of an endorsement on the passenger-service license of such prescribed particulars as will satisfactorily identify the vehicle and show that the issue of a certificate of fitness in respect thereof has been duly authorized.

Every certificate of fitness when issued on a quarter-day shall take effect on that day, and when issued on any other day shall be deemed to have taken effect on the quarter-day immediately preceding the day on which the certificate is issued, and in each such case shall, unless sooner revoked or unless granted for a shorter period, expire on the completion of twelve months after the quarter-day on which it takes effect, or, where it is issued in respect of a vehicle to be used in connection with a passenger-service, on the date of the expiry of the passenger-service license:

Provided that where such passenger-service license is renewed the certificate of fitness of the vehicle shall, unless sooner revoked or unless granted for a shorter period, continue in force for the duration of the renewed license if it was issued not earlier than six months before the date of such renewal:

Provided further that where application for a new certificate of fitness is made before the expiry of the existing certificate, such last-mentioned certificate shall, unless the Commissioner in his discretion otherwise directs, remain in force after the date of its expiry until the application for a new certificate is disposed of.

The Commissioner may at any time revoke a certificate of fitness, and if on the inspection of a passenger-service vehicle it appears to an Inspector that such vehicle does not, at the time of inspection, comply with the prescribed conditions as to fitness, such Inspector may suspend the certificate for not more than twenty-eight days.

On the revocation of a certificate of fitness issued in respect thereof it shall not be lawful to use any passenger-service vehicle for the carriage of passengers for hire or reward unless and until a new certificate of fitness is issued in respect thereof.

Every Inspector may at any time—

Every person who obstructs or hinders or incites any person to obstruct or hinder any Inspector in the exercise of powers conferred by this section or refuses or fails to furnish any such assistance as aforesaid, or who, having the custody or possession of any certificate of fitness, refuses or fails to produce the same to an Inspector on demand, commits an offence, and is liable for each such offence to a fine of ten pounds.

There shall be a right of appeal in the prescribed manner and in the prescribed form and within the prescribed time to the Transport Appeal Board from any decision of any Licensing Authority with respect to—

Subject to the next succeeding section, the following persons and bodies and no others may appeal as provided in the last preceding subsection, namely:—

An appeal by the persons mentioned in paragraph (j) of the last preceding subsection shall be by petition in the prescribed form.

In the case of any appeal as aforesaid against a decision of a Licensing Authority refusing to grant or renew a license the appellant if, at the time of making application for such license or renewal, he is lawfully carrying on the passenger-service affected, may continue so to carry it on until the appeal is determined.

Where a licensee appeals against any restriction imposed on him by any exercise by the Licensing Authority of the power conferred on it by section thirty-four of this Act, such restriction shall not operate until the appeal is determined.

Upon any appeal the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, shall, so far as they are applicable, apply as if the Appeal Board were a Commission of Inquiry appointed under that Act.

The Appeal Board in its determination may confirm, modify, or reverse the decision appealed from.

The determination of the Appeal Board in any appeal as aforesaid shall be final, and in cases where the decision appealed from is modified or reversed it shall be the duty of the Licensing Authority to give effect to the determination of the Appeal Board.

The determination of the Appeal Board shall in every case be communicated by that Board to the Commissioner, who shall thereupon notify the same to the appellant and to every other person who in the opinion of the Commissioner is directly concerned.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the last preceding section, no person or body other than the Government Railways Board shall have any right of appeal against any decision of the Auckland Transport Board in its capacity as a Licensing Authority under this Act.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council published in the Gazette, declare any transport district or districts or any part or parts of any such district or districts, or any route or routes through any district or districts or any part or parts thereof, specified or defined in such Order, to be a “controlled area” for the purposes of this Part from a date named in such Order, and, as the case may require, may declare that the Central Authority or the District Authority specified in such Order shall be the Licensing Authority of the controlled area.

Any such Order in Council may in like manner be amended or revoked.

The Central Authority and any District Authority may from time to time, and on being requested so to do by the Minister shall, make such inquiries and investigations as it thinks fit or as the Minister directs, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is necessary or desirable to declare any controlled area pursuant to the last preceding section.

Every such inquiry or investigation shall be held in the prescribed manner, and a report thereof embodying such recommendations as the Licensing Authority thinks fit to make shall be transmitted to the Minister.

By the Order in Council declaring a controlled area, or by a subsequent Order in Council in that behalf, the Governor-General may apply to the controlled area such of the provisions of Part II hereof, with such modifications, as he thinks fit, but in every such case the provisions of section forty-three of that Part shall be applied.

All provisions of Part II hereof so applied as aforesaid to any controlled area shall thereupon be read and have effect as if the references therein to passenger-services, passenger-service licenses, and passengers were references to goods-services, goods-service licenses, and goods respectively, and shall be so read with such modifications as may be necessary from the fact that as so applied they are dealing with goods-services and goods instead of passenger-services and passengers, and as if references therein to the appointed day were references to the date on which the declaration of the controlled area took effect.

Any such Order in Council as aforesaid, instead of applying provisions of Part II hereof generally with respect to the controlled area, may apply such provisions with respect only to goods-services of a type or class or to a particular goods-service specified in such Order.

Every Order in Council under this section shall have effect according to its tenor, and may, in like manner, be from time to time varied or modified, or may be revoked.

The Licensing Authority of a controlled area, before granting any goods-service license or renewal of a goods-service license,—

Where a passenger-service within a controlled area is also a goods-service of the particular type or class to which provisions of Part II hereof have been applied under section forty-seven hereof, then it shall not be lawful for such service to be so carried on or for any vehicle to be used in connection therewith except under the authority of a goods-service license, and unless in respect of every vehicle so used there has been issued and is in force a certificate of fitness under this Act.

The owner of every motor-vehicle used in connection with any service licensed under this Act shall, within forty-eight hours after the occurrence in connection therewith of any accident attended by serious personal injury to any person, or by serious damage to the property of any person, give notice thereof by telegraph to the Commissioner.

Every such notice shall be transmitted free of charge by the telegraph-office.

The Minister may, if he thinks fit, direct an inquiry to be made into the cause of any accident notified to the Commissioner pursuant to the last preceding section.

Such inquiry shall be made by a person or persons appointed in that behalf by the Minister, who may in his discretion direct the inquiry to be a public inquiry, in which case the person or persons holding the inquiry shall, for the purposes thereof, have all the powers of a Coroner under the Coroners Act, 1908.

For the purpose of enabling the person or persons making any such inquiry as aforesaid to ascertain the cause of the accident, such person or persons, or any other person appointed by him or them or by the Minister, may inspect and at the expense of the owner make any reasonable tests of any motor-vehicle in connection with which the accident arose or any other motor-vehicle, and for the purpose of such inspection the person so appointed, with such assistants as he deems necessary, may enter at any reasonable time any premises where such vehicle is, and if any person obstructs him or any of his assistants in the exercise of his powers under this subsection, such person shall be liable to a fine of twenty pounds.

Any report made to the Minister as a result of any inquiry under this Part of this Act shall not be used in evidence in any legal proceedings instituted in consequence of the accident.

Any notice required to be served on any person for the purposes of this Act may be served by causing the same to be delivered to that person, or to be left at his usual or last-known place of abode or business, or the address stated by him in any application or other document under this Act, or to be sent by registered letter addressed to him at such place of abode or business or address.

Save as provided in section nine hereof, all proceedings in respect of offences under this Act shall be taken in a summary way on the information of the Commissioner or any other person appointed by the Commissioner or a Metropolitan Authority for that purpose, or by any member of the Police Force, and shall be heard before a Stipendiary Magistrate alone.

No person appointed by the Commissioner or a Metropolitan Authority under the last preceding subsection shall be called upon to prove that he has been so appointed.

In any proceedings for an offence under this Act—

Save as provided in section nine hereof and in the next succeeding subsection, all fees, fines, and other moneys received or recovered under this Act shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Consolidated Fund, and all expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be paid out of moneys to be from time to time appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

All fees payable under this Act in respect of any decision of the Auckland Transport Board, the Wellington City Council, the Christchurch City Council, or the Dunedin City Council, in its capacity as a Licensing Authority under this Act, and (subject to subsection two of section thirteen of the Finance Act, 1927 (No. 2)) all fines recovered on 28 the information of any person appointed by it shall be paid into and form part of the General Fund or Account of that Board or Council, and all expenses incurred by it in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be paid out of such General Fund or Account.

Every provision in any Act conferring on the Crown or any local authority or public body power to establish, carry on, and maintain any service for the carriage of passengers or goods by means of motor-vehicles shall be read subject to the provisions of this Act.

No passenger or goods service, and no motor-vehicle, and no person shall, by reason only of anything done pursuant to a license under this Act, be subject to any by-laws made by any local authority with respect to the licensing of vehicles plying for hire, or be liable to obtain a license pursuant to any such by-law.

Save as provided in the last preceding section and as otherwise specially mentioned in this Act, the provisions of this Act are in addition to, and shall not derogate from, the provisions of other Acts relating to the licensing, control, or taxation of vehicles or of persons using vehicles.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, namely:—

All regulations made under the last preceding section shall be published in the Gazette.

Any such regulations may—

The operation of any regulations published as aforesaid may, if so provided therein, be wholly suspended until they are applied by the Minister by notice in the Gazette. Any such notice may at any time in like manner be revoked.

In so far as the by-laws of any local authority in force in any locality are inconsistent with or repugnant to any regulations under this Act in force in the same locality, the by-laws shall be deemed to be subject to the regulations.

All regulations under this Act shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days after the gazetting thereof if Parliament is then in session, and, if not, then within fourteen days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

The Auckland Transport Board Act, 1928, shall, as from the appointed day, be read subject to the provisions of this Act.

The Auckland Transport Board Act, 1928, is hereby consequentially amended as from the appointed day as follows:—

All licenses, authorities, or rights granted by the Auckland Transport Board under the authority of the provisions hereby repealed and in force immediately before the appointed day shall respectively continue in force for the period for which they were issued, and while so in force shall be deemed to be passenger-service licenses issued under this Act, and all the provisions of this Act in respect of passenger-service licenses during the currency thereof and in respect of the services carried on under the authority of such licenses and the passenger-service vehicles used in connection with such services shall apply to such licenses, authorities, and rights as aforesaid, and to the services to which they relate and to the passenger-service vehicles used in connection therewith.

After the passing of this Act no further licenses, authorities, or rights as aforesaid shall be granted by the Auckland Transport Board.

Section six of the Christchurch Tramway District Amendment Act, 1927, is hereby repealed.

The Motor-omnibus Traffic Act, 1926, and section five of the Transport Department Act, 1929, are hereby repealed as from the appointed day.

No further licenses shall, in the period between the date of the passing of this Act and the appointed day, be granted under the said Motor-omnibus Traffic Act, 1926, by any Licensing Authority under that Act.

This Act shall bind the Crown.