Road Traffic Act 1960

180 Holding and subsidiary companies

(1) Where a holding company, on an application for a carrier's licence, signifies to the licensing authority its desire that the provisions of this section should have effect as respects a subsidiary company specified in the application, then, in relation to the application and to any licence granted thereon to the holding company, and to the use of the authorised vehicles, this Part of this Act shall have effect—

(a) as if goods vehicles belonging to, or in the possession of, the subsidiary company belonged to, or were in the possession of, the holding company;

(b) as if, where a goods vehicle is used in circumstances in which, but for this provision, the subsidiary company would be deemed to be the user thereof, the holding company were the user thereof;

(c) as if a trade or business carried on by the subsidiary company were carried on by the holding company;

(d) as if a person employed by the subsidiary company as a driver or statutory attendant of an authorised vehicle were employed by the holding company;

(e) as if the subsidiary company were an applicant for the licence.

(2) The provisions of this section shall cease to have effect as respects a subsidiary company—

(a) if the holding company gives notice to the licensing authority that it desires that this section should, as from any date, cease to apply to that company, as from that date; or

(b) as from the date on which that company ceases to be a subsidiary company of the holding company.

(3) Where, by virtue of this section, this Part of this Act has effect as if a trade or business carried on by a subsidiary company were carried on by the holding company, then, for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section one hundred and seventy-eight of this Act the reference in the Fourteenth Schedule thereto to the holder of the licence or any servant or agent of his shall include a reference to the subsidiary company or any servant or agent of its, and for the purposes of paragraph (e) of that subsection—

(a) any charges for services made by the subsidiary company shall be deemed to be made by the holding company, and

(b) persons in competition with the subsidiary company shall be deemed to be in competition to the same extent with the holding company.

(4) In this section "holding company" means a company which is the beneficial owner of not less than ninety per cent. of the issued share capital of another company, and " subsidiary company ", in relation to a holding company, means a company not less than ninety per cent. of the issued share capital of which is in the beneficial ownership of the holding company.

Where a subsidiary company (as hereinbefore defined) is the beneficial owner of any shares of another company, those shares shall be treated for the purposes of the foregoing definitions as if they were in the beneficial ownership of the holding company.