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The forthcoming abolition of the tax disc has been described as "a godsend" to the daily rental industry. As part of the 2013 Autumn Statement in December, the Government announced that the physical disc is to be shelved in October 2014 in favour of electronic online payment sytems. According to Neal Francis, divisional managing director at leasing firm Pendragon Contracts, the move will allow rental companies to get vehicles on the road much faster.
"The abolishment of the tax disc is a godsend to the daily rental industry because the rule always was 'no tax disc, no vehicle', so the rental companies will be able to 'in-fleet' a lot quicker [when the disc is gone].
"They will see a benefit from that and quickly. The leasing companies also will. Not all of them [leasing and rental companies], but the majority of them will say 'you can't deliver a car until the tax disc has been delivered'."
Vice-president of vehicle remarketing at Enterprise, Ed Spitzer, added: "Any company that operates a fleet will welcome the news, as it removes a layer of unnecessary administration in the processing, checking and distribution of discs.
"For a company with a very large fleet, the abolition removes what was a very costly process, which, if managed badly, could negatively impact the customer experience, or even result in the failure to display a valid tax disc.
"Most traffic enforcement is now based on automatic number-plate readers, so the paper disc is largely obsolete."
Pendragon claims its own leasing business is up 60% year-on-year following a promotional campaign in 2013, where it offered business users a free day's rental if they booked a vehicle for a minimum of a week.
Francis said the firm was planning a similar scheme in 2014: "[The offer] worked pretty well. It brought in new business that otherwise we wouldn't have got as well as others taking it up. Certainly there will be some sort of tactical activity again [this year]."
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