Revised fees for annual lorry and bus testing and operator licensing came into effect on Sunday 1 April, 2012.

For the third year running, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has not applied any general increase to most statutory fees, most changes aimed to move costs between customers with no extra revenue for VOSA.

Fees for HGV and PSV testing have been adjusted to apply a differential between tests conducted at non-VOSA test facilities and VOSA test facilities, with the ‘testing element’ of most fees at non-VOSA facilities reducing by 4% before rounding and those at VOSA sites increasing by 4% before rounding, to charge more of the cost of providing VOSA facilities to users of those facilities. The ‘enforcement element’ incorporated in annual test fees (but not retest fees) did not change.

Fees for applications for HGV and PSV operator licences - and for varying and continuing such licences - rose by 1.6%. This will pay for the creation of a National Register of licensed operators and their transport managers to comply with EU Regulations which came into effect at the beginning of 2012. The National Register is one element of a package of measures aimed at creating a more level playing field for international transport operations and reducing distortion of competition across the EU.  Application fees for standard and restricted PSV operator licences will also be equalised since there is little difference in the cost of processing the applications.

VOSA estimates that the overall effect of the changes to all statutory fees will, at worst, increase overall operating costs for operators using VOSA test facilities by less than one hundredth of a per cent (0.01%), but many customers using Approved Testing Facilities (ATFs) will pay less.

VOSA Chief Executive Alastair Peoples said: "We understand the financial pressures operators are under. That is why I am delighted that we have been able to avoid any general increase in fees for the third year running.  I’m also pleased to announce a fee differential for annual tests at non-VOSA sites which moves further towards charging the full cost of VOSA facilities to those who use those facilities. This will make non-VOSA sites such as ATFs an even more attractive option for operators getting vehicles tested."

Full details of the new fees are available on VOSA’s website. For HGV fees visit: www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/