Transport Act, 1944

Carriage for reward.

112.—(1) Where a mechanically propelled vehicle or a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle is used for the carriage of merchandise, then, subject to this section, the merchandise shall until the contrary is proved, be deemed for the purposes of the Act of 1933, to be carried for reward.

(2) Where—

(a) merchandise, which is supplied by a person in the course of a trade or business carried on by him is, for the purpose of delivery to the customer, carried in a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person or in a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person, or

(b) merchandise, which is to be or has been subjected to any one or more of the following processes, namely, repairing, cleaning, laundering and dyeing, by a person in the course of a trade or business carried on by him is, for the purpose of collection from or delivery to the customer, carried in a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person or in a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person,

the merchandise shall, for the purposes of the Act of 1933, be deemed not to be carried for reward.

(3) Where—

(a) a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by a person or a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by a person is used for the carriage of merchandise the property of that person, or

(b) a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by a company or a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by a company is used for the carriage of merchandise the property of any company which is in the same ownership, or under the same management, as the company owning the mechanically propelled vehicle,

then, subject to subsections (4) and (5) of this section, the merchandise shall be deemed, for the purposes of the Act of 1933, not to be carried for reward.

(4) Where—

(a) a vehicle (being a mechanically propelled vehicle or a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle) is used for the carriage of merchandise, and

(b) the vehicle is registered in the name of two or more persons,

the merchandise shall, for the purposes of the Act of 1933, be deemed not to be the property of the owner of the vehicle, unless it is proved that it is the common property of the persons in whose name the vehicle is registered.

(5) Where—

(a) a person is, in relation to the carriage of merchandise, charged with having committed on a particular occasion an offence under the Act of 1933, and

(b) it is proved that the merchandise was on the said occasion carried in a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person or in a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle owned by that person, and

(c) it is alleged by that person that the merchandise was his property, and

(d) it appears that the merchandise was not manufactured or produced by that person, but was acquired by him, and

(e) the Court is of opinion that (having regard to the circumstances of the acquisition, the purposes for which the merchandise is capable of being used, the recentness of the acquisition and the calling of that person) the merchandise was not bona fide acquired by him for the purposes of his trade or business or for his own private use, the Court shall, for the purposes of the Act of 1933, deal with the charge on the assumption that the property in the merchandise never passed to that person and that the merchandise was on the said occasion carried for reward by him.