Section 23 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:

(a) by omitting subsections (1A) , (1B) and (1C) and substituting the following subsections:

(1A)  Subsection (1) does not apply, and subsections (1B) and (1C) only apply, in relation to a taxi area in respect of the years 2020 to 2024 (inclusive).

(1B)  If the Commission is, having regard to –

(a) guidelines, if any, issued under subsection (1C) ; and

(b) other matters that it considers to be relevant –

satisfied that there are insufficient taxis available to adequately meet the needs of consumers in a taxi area, the Commission may make available for issue in relation to the taxi area the number of owner-operator taxi licences that the Commission thinks are necessary to meet those needs.

(1C)  The Commission may issue guidelines in respect of the matters that the Commission is to take into account in determining whether there are sufficient taxis available to adequately meet the needs of consumers in a taxi area.

(b) by omitting from subsection (3) "taxi area" second occurring and substituting "licence for the year in which the tender is accepted" ;

(c) by omitting from subsection (4)(a) "this section" and substituting " subsection (1) " ;

(d) by inserting in subsection (4)(a) "for the year in which the tender is accepted" after "licence" ;

(e) by omitting from subsection (5) "this section" and substituting " subsection (1) " ;

(f) by inserting in subsection (5) "for that licence for the year in which the licence is sold" after "price" ;

(g) by omitting paragraph (b) from subsection (6) and substituting the following paragraph:

(b) the following year is a year after 2024; and

(h) by omitting paragraph (b) from subsection (7) and substituting the following paragraph:

(b) the following year is a year after 2024; and