Borough council prosecutes driver for driving without private hire licence and insurance

On 12 May 2025, at Cheltenham Magistrates Court, Moosa Varachhia of Millbrook Close, Gloucester, pleaded guilty to driving a private hire vehicle between 15 April 2024 and 23 May 2024 without a private hire driver licence.

He also pleaded guilty to not having valid insurance during the same period.

Varachhia was undertaking the ‘home to school’ journeys for a private hire operator.

The defendant was fined £180 and ordered to pay £175 in costs and a victim surcharge of £48.

According to the council, Varachhia explained that he believed his licence renewal application process was being organised by the council whilst he was out of the country.

He is no longer working as a private hire driver following disqualification from driving in April 2025, Tewkesbury said.

Cllr Murray Stewart, the council’s Lead Member for Environmental Services, said “All licensed drivers undergo thorough checks, both at renewal and throughout the duration of their licence, to ensure they are fit and proper to continue to hold a licence and to ensure public safety. This is especially important for those drivers transporting children.

“If we can’t carry out all of these checks, we can’t ensure a driver is suitable to continue to hold a licence, which is why it is so important for companies to ensure they only operate fully licensed vehicles and drivers.”

The prosecution was brought by the local authority’s Licensing team, with assistance from the council’s Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit and One Legal, the legal service shared by Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council, Stroud District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council.