I wrote recently about how Book Your Practical Test Online Ltd. had been found in breach of various advertising codes of practice by the ASA. It was the 
second time that same company had been found in breach in six months – the first was when they had deliberately used the old Directgov livery on their site to make themselves look exactly like the then official DSA booking site.
In this latest case from the Daily Mirror, “book-theory-test-online” (the site is currently down, probably as a result of this) – run by Waqar Ashraf, of Saltley, Birmingham – has been fined £85,000 for its own scamming attempts.
Ashraf gave a “pass protection guarantee”, where you were guaranteed a free re-test if you failed. But the small print said you only got that if you scored 42 out of 50 (the pass mark is 43/50). Any other score made you ineligible. But Ashraf also used 0905 premium rate numbers, and as well as the basic £31 for the test people were paying around £52 on phone calls. One person was charged £95 on calls alone.
It was that phone line scam that Ashraf was fined for by the premium rate phone line regulator PhonepayPlus. Several of those who complained also stated that they thought they were phoning the DSA. As well as the £85,000 fine, Ashraf has been ordered to refund all the complainants in full within 28 days.
According to the Mirror a second company, Book Your Theory Test Limited – owned by Farhan Reham (Rehman) – had also been slated for charging an additional £28.50 for “unlimited re-tests”, but its small print also made the same 42/50 proviso as Ashraf. The business address Reham/Rehman uses for that scam is the same one Ashraf has been using. A third scam site – book-your-driving test – is also listed as operating from that same address. As the Mirror says:
It’s a bogus address, none of them have offices there.
It’s a bogus address, and a bogus operation. A complete scam. All of these sites are. The only place anyone should go is the official DSA website, where the test costs £31 and a test date is available instantly at the time of booking (though it might be a few weeks away).
Use the QR codes above by scanning them using your smartphone to book your theory or practical tests. Alternatively:
And use both of those links as your starting point if you want to change your test date (look in the right hand column for the necessary link)