The case concerns sole trader Sukhvinder Singh, whose restricted operator’s licence was revoked with effect from 23:45 on 5 April 2026. In the written decision, the Commissioner said Singh had come “as close as an operator can come” to being disqualified from ever holding an operator’s licence again.
At the centre of the case was a single vehicle: E680SVP, a Mercedes first registered in 1988. The Commissioner said a truck of that age should have been on a six-week PMI schedule at minimum, yet one gap between inspections stretched to 208 days. Even against the 12-week interval recorded on the licence, that inspection was 124 days late.
The decision also says brake testing was badly handled. On one inspection, no brake test was carried out at all. On another, no brake test information was filled in. Later, only an unladen brake test was done, which the Commissioner said could not show whether the brakes would still work properly when the vehicle was loaded and actually in service.
Then came the MOT history, which appears to have pushed the case into even more serious territory. According to the decision, the truck went through six successive MOTs and failed all six, with one of those tests abandoned. The Commissioner said that record said “volumes” about the operator’s attitude to road safety.
The problems did not end there. The ruling says Singh spent a lengthy period in India while leaving the transport side of the business in the hands of a driver. During that time, the vehicle was still being used, and DVSA ANPR evidence showed it was picked up 257 times between 16 December 2024 and 21 March 2025. The Commissioner concluded there had not been effective management control.
In the end, the regulator decided Singh was no longer fit to hold an operator’s licence. Although no disqualification order was made, the warning in the ruling is hard to miss: after the revocation takes effect, he cannot lawfully operate goods vehicles above 3.5 tonnes for commercial purposes unless he secures a new licence in future.
The decision leaves a narrow route back. The Commissioner said any realistic future application would depend on Singh completing operator licence awareness training, having the DVSA roadworthiness guide read to him in full, and using a six-week inspection frequency if he wants to continue with the same vehicle.
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