SO far, 460 Rural Service Licences (RSLs) permits, issued before January 1 six years ago, have been converted to either minibus or carrier licences, says Minister for Public Works, Transport and Meteorological Services Ro Filipe Tuisawau.
He made the statement in response to a question in Parliament on Monday on why the Land Transport Authority was holding on to RSL number plates for those providers whose approval has been given and already providing the service. Ro Filipe said all road users, vehicle owners, passengers and permit holders of public service vehicles were governed by the Land Transport Act 1998 and its corresponding regulations under the Land Transport Regulation 2000.
He said effective from January 1, 2018,) the LTA had ceased issuing Rural Service Licences following amendments to the Land Transport Public Service Vehicle Regulation.
“Regulation 18A sub-regulation (6)(d) specifies that an RSL issued before this date is deemed either minibus permit or a road permit for carrier licenses, depending on the vehicle’s construction,” Ro Filipe said.
“Since then, the LTA has been converting valid RSLs issued prior to 1st January, 2018 based on the vehicle type.
“I would like to reassure the honourable members that LTA is diligently processing the conversion of all RSLs into other minibus licences (LM) or carrier licences (LC) and is committed to facilitating this transition.”
Ro Filipe encouraged all permit holders to visit any LTA branch to complete the conversion and obtain the necessary number plates.
