(02 Oct 2023, 6:35 am)Andreos1 wrote But it doesn't explain the free rides though.
Is the GNE claw back really going to cover the payment of covering the services AND free rides?
Not sure what law it's under but it'll be illegal for them to take fares unless it was sub contracted by GoNorthEast as the registration is under their name. Otherwise if I had a PSV licence, I could just buy a double decker and run 2 minutes in front of a 21 at peak times and take fares. It would be easy to get away with aswell since GoNorthEast has 100 brands so people would just think it's another.
Mind I'm not sure it's legal to run a free bus service either tbh - https://www.gov.uk/run-local-bus-service/exemptions. It certainly doesn't hit all that criteria for an excemption (advertised in advance).