Decision for Punjab Concrete Ltd (OH2058306)
Written decision of the Traffic Commissioner for West of England for Punjab Concrete Ltd and driver Parveen Parveen
WESTERN TRAFFIC AREA
PUNJAB CONCRETE LTD OH2058306
DRIVER: Parveen Parveen
AT A PUBLIC INQUIRY AND DRIVER CONDUCT HEARING IN BRISTOL 18 DECEMBER 2025
DECISION
The Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 (as amended) (“the Act”)
Pursuant to a finding of material change through fronting and gross non-compliance, the licence is revoked with immediate effect, Section 26(1)(h) refers.
Pursuant to Section 28(4) of the Act, Maninder Singh is disqualified from holding or obtaining an operator’s licence and from being involved in the management, administration or control of the transport operations of an entity that holds or obtains such a licence in Great Britain, immediately and for a period of 5 years.
Pursuant to concerns arising as to the fitness of Akashdeep Singh, I propose to revoke licence OF2070607 on grounds of material change, operator no longer fit to be the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence given the clear association with this application.
The vocational entitlement of Parveen Parveen is, pursuant to Section 115 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, suspended with effect from 31 December 2025 until he makes contact with my office and makes arrangements to attend a driver conduct hearing. If no such contact is made within 6 months of that date, his large goods vehicle entitlement will be revoked and he will be disqualified indefinitely.
BACKGROUND
Punjab Concrete Ltd is the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence authorising the use of four vehicles from a specified operating centre at Mount Apollo, Winkfield, Windsor. The licence was granted on 30 August 2022 with the director being Amrit Pal Singh. Current checks at Companies House show that the company director prior to Amrit Pal Singh had been Sandeep Singh, resigning on 3 March 2022. Kimi Rodrigues, a Portuguese national, was appointed director on 19 July 2023 but that was not notified as required by the standard licence conditions, nor was the resignation of Amrit Pal Singh on 12 June 2024. Ms Rodrigues and Mr Amrit Singh share a residential correspondence address on Companies House. Letters from my office chasing the unnotified change of control have gone unanswered.
DVSA received intelligence that the company was a front for Star Readymix Concrete Limited following the revocation of their restricted licence, OK2026120 on 31 January 2023.
An unannounced visit was made to the operating centre on 14 January 2025. After speaking to the owner of the site, it became clear that the company had not operated from there. The landlord recalled that he had previously spoken with someone called Akashdeep and his business partner, Maninder Singh (who was a director of Star Readymix). Numerous attempts were then made to contact the company at known addresses and at local operating centres but to no avail. Maninder Singh was seen on the driveway of the company’s registered address, but no contact could be made with the company director. On 20 August 2025, the examiner delivered a letter to the registered address requesting the director to respond.
A reply was received from the director, Kimi Rodrigues, apologising that they had not been able to meet and explaining that she has been taking care of family members. She said that she had a number of medical appointments coming up but would be able to meet with the examiner during the week commencing 9 September. The examiner responded booking an appointment for 10 September and asking where documents and vehicles were kept, and for digital tachograph data to be provided. This request was sent in email and confirmed in a further, hand-delivered letter.
On 4 September 2025, the examiner received 4 emails from the company attaching various documents such as PMI’s, driver induction sheets, toolbox talks, bridge strike training and brake test results. The documents referenced Maninder Singh. No digital tachograph data or driver licence checks were submitted.
A further email was received from the company stating that all paperwork could not be provided as it had been misplaced during moving yards and that 2 temporary yards were in use. The email also stated that the transport manager was out of the country so the tachograph data could not be downloaded.
One of the company’s vehicles was encountered by DVSA on 8 September 2025. The driver was Maninder Singh, who was issued with a £50 fixed penalty notice as he was unable to produce his driver CPC qualification card. An offence notification was also issued as no ministry plate was displayed within the cab of the vehicle. Following the full download of the vehicle’s tachograph unit and driver card, the analysis revealed that Maninder Singh’s driver card was last downloaded on 2 February 2024, 584 days earlier, missing the mandatory 28-day requirement by 556 days. The tachograph vehicle data for vehicle LK65DYC, locked into a company called Punjab Ltd, had last been downloaded on 1 September 2023, 738 days earlier, missing the mandatory 90-day period by 648 days.
While the vehicle was stopped, the examiner emailed the company to establish the name of the transport manager and to confirm where they should meet on the 10 September. No response was received.
On 10 September, the examiner arrived and waited at Donkey Lane, West Drayton, UB7 7HQ an industrial area suited for heavy goods vehicles, where company vehicles LX64AAK and FD16PBD were parked. No one from the company was on site. An email was sent to two addresses for the company but no reply was received. A TEVR was completed with a score of 44 in view of the lack of co-operation and lack of documents/systems seen. This was then emailed to the company.
The examiner received a phone call from Maninder Singh (identified by his mobile number known from past dealings with Star Readymix Concrete Ltd) stating that he had just received the emails and he could go and download the tachograph data. When asked why he was calling and not the company director, Kimi Rodriuges, he explained that he had purchased Punjab Concrete Limited around March/April 2024 and that he put his wife as Company Director as he is banned for two years from holding an Operator Licence. He had done this so he could still trade and pay the finance off for the vehicles he has, despite not using all of them.
When asked, “if he bought Punjab Concrete Limited because it had already had an Operator Licence?” - He said “Yes”. He went on to say that he knew he was going to lose the Operator Licence, his wife is shy and couldn’t speak to the examiner or the Traffic Commissioner.
Analysis of the tachograph data from LK65DYC highlighted several drivers who had driven the vehicle between January 2025 – September 2025 but tachograph driver card data, and evidence of driver licence checks were not available.
Separately, my office received a notification from the joint Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit of an encounter with vehicle LX64AAK on 14 August 2025. The vehicle was being driven by Parveen Parveen from an address in Stanwell. The report tells me that graduated fixed penalty notices had been issued because the vehicle was 4740 kgs over its gross weight and the driver had driven for more than 4 ½ hours without a 45-minute break, one of seven such offences in the analysis period.
Due to the apparent change in control of the business, alleged fronting and poor compliance management, I called the company to public inquiry. Parveen Parveen was called to a conjoined driver conduct hearing.
THE PUBLIC INQUIRY
No-one attended for either the company or the driver. I am satisfied that the company call-up was sent to two valid email addresses associated with the licence record and hard copy by recorded delivery. Given the correspondence addresses used and the previous interaction therefrom by Maninder Singh, I am satisfied that he is properly on notice of the allegation of fronting and the potential for his disqualification. I am satisfied that the driver call-up was properly served by first class post. I proceed to make findings of fact and decisions.
FINDINGS OF FACT
No finances have been provided. Four vehicles are specified range in age from 9 to 11 years. They are each 32-tonne volumetric concrete mixers. I find fit that Section 13D of the Act apply and accordingly I find that Section 26(1)(h) is made out in that the operator no longer has access to financial resources.
Absent any evidence to the contrary, I accept the finding of Traffic Examiner Adrian Elkington’s clear and comprehensive public inquiry brief in full. I adopt those findings as my own. It follows that I find:
- Maninder Singh has been de facto director of Punjab Concrete Ltd since, at least, March 2024
- Punjab Concrete Ltd has been a front, as defined in the call-up letter, for the continuing operations of Maninder Singh following revocation of licence OK2026120
- Ms Kimi Rodrigues has conspired with Maninder Singh by allowing her name to be used as a director at Companies House when she has little if anything to do with the business operation
- There has been an absolute failure to manage compliance with drivers hours as demonstrated by the failure to download vehicle units or driver cards at all
- The operator failed to produce tachograph data when requested, a criminal offence
- The operator has used an unauthorised operating centre
- The operator breached the licence conditions by failing to notify change in control and ownership
Examination of the licence record identifies that vehicles LX64AAK and FD16PBD transferred from Star Readymix Concrete Ltd on 1 February 2023, that is immediately on revocation of that licence. I find on the balance of probabilities but with a high degree of confidence that this licence has been a front for Maninder Singh and/or Star Readymix Concrete Ltd from 1 February 2023 and, far more likely than not, was a sham application from the outset. I support that finding by comparing the date of the call-up letter for Star Readymix Concrete Ltd and the date the application for this licence was started – both occurred on 12 July 2022. I also note that finances at the time of the application show a large injection from “A Singh”. I am surprised that licensing staff did not follow-up the large financial deposit but seem to have assumed that it came from Amrit Pal Singh – caseworkers and their managers should have been on alert when Amrit gave his email address as [REDACTED]. Akashdeep and Maninder were described to the DVSA Examiner by the landlord as business partners.
Having made those findings of fact, I find the following Sections of the Act made out:
- Section 26(1)(b), failure to notify change of control
- Section 26(1)(e), that vehicles have not been kept when not in use at Mount Apollo, Winkfield, Windsor
- Section 26(1)(f), breach of undertakings
- That vehicles would not be overloaded
- That the rules on drivers hours and tachographs would be observed
- That the Traffic Commissioner would be notified of relevant changes
- Section 26(1)(h), a material change in that the licence has become a front for Maninder Singh and/or Star Readymix Concrete Ltd, and
- Section 26(1)(h), as a result of the fronting, the operator is no longer fit to be the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence
Absent any evidence to the contrary, I find that driver Parveen Parveen drove a 32-tonne heavy goods vehicle when the permissible weight was exceeded by 4740 kgs and committed seven offences of failing to take rest after 4½ hours driving.
CONSIDERATION
This is a clear front, as was accepted by Maninder Singh in a conversation with the Examiner. I find that the licence application was a sham from the get-go. Akashdeep Singh has not been put on notice of my concerns. I note that he has been granted a licence as a director of Singh Digging Services Ltd. Given his clear involvement in this licence at application and maybe later, I propose to revoke licence OF2070607 on grounds of material change, operator no longer fit to be the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence.
Maninder Singh has sought to continue operating heavy goods vehicles having had a previous licence revoked for gross non-compliance. He has entirely failed to manage any compliance with drivers hours and tachographs. His vehicle has been encountered grossly overloaded. He has not attended to explain his actions. Whilst an additional feature is not required before disqualification is considered, additional features are here in spades. Maninder Singh is simply not someone who can be trusted to operate vehicles compliantly, despite the clearest of warning at public inquiry three years ago before Traffic Commissioner Bell. I find that a lengthy period outside the industry is necessary for him to reflect on his conduct. Having regard to the Senior Traffic Commissioner’s Statutory Guidance Document 10, paragraphs 66 and 108, I find that disqualification should be for a period of 5 years and be broadly ordered so as to be effective.
Parveen Parveen has been found to have been the driver of a vehicle which is grossly overloaded and in breach of drivers hours rules. Had he attended a hearing, the likely outcome might have been a suspension of a number of weeks, particularly given that the case against him is short on actual evidence other than the statement of a police officer. However, he has chosen not to attend. It is an essential part of fitness to hold a vocational entitlement that drivers respect the regulatory framework in which they operate. I take action that will require Mr Parveen Parveen to do just that if he wishes to retain employment as a truck driver.
DECISIONS
Pursuant to a finding of material change through fronting and gross non-compliance, the licence is revoked with immediate effect, Section 26(1)(h) refers.
Pursuant to Section 28(4) of the Act, Maninder Singh is disqualified from holding or obtaining an operator’s licence and from being involved in the management, administration or control of the transport operations of an entity that holds or obtains such a licence in Great Britain, immediately and for a period of 5 years.
Pursuant to concerns arising as to the fitness of Akashdeep Singh, I propose to revoke licence OF2070607 on grounds of material change, operator no longer fit to be the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence given the clear association with this application.
The vocational entitlement of Parveen Parveen is, pursuant to Section 115 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, suspended with effect from 31 December 2025 until he makes contact with my office and makes arrangements to attend a driver conduct hearing. If no such contact is made within 6 months of that date, his large goods vehicle entitlement will be revoked and he will be disqualified indefinitely.
Kevin Rooney Traffic Commissioner 23 December 2025