Hackney carriage vehicle licence

Taxi Trade Updates

Including information in relation to Covid-19.

Find out more

Service update – Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licences

Due to the unprecedented number of incorrect and/or incomplete applications, and a significant increase in the number of direct contacts with individual applicants (both by email and telephone), our business process for managing online applications has been reviewed and amended.

To enable us to manage the high volume of applications, and to ensure that licences are issued in a timely manner, incorrect or incomplete driver applications will now be rejected and a refund issued.

Any rejected applications will need to be resubmitted with the error(s) corrected, and the full fee paid. Failure to do so, will result in the application again being rejected. The Licensing Service is unable to offer applicants a document checking service, so it is vitally important that all supporting documentation is correctly and fully completed, in date and attached to the application.

Driver renewal applications need to be submitted at least 8 weeks before the expiry of the licence (noting that drivers are permitted to submit their renewal application up to 12 weeks before expiry). If a driver renewal application is received after this period, we cannot guarantee that the licence will be issued prior to expiry.

We thank you for your support and cooperation with this matter.

How to apply

Please note, currently the limit of hackney carriage vehicles has been reached. As such, no further new hackney carriage vehicle licences will be issued.

How to renew

The easiest way to renew your vehicle licence is online. You can renew your licence up to 8 weeks before it expires.

Renew your taxi vehicle licence 

What will I need to include with my application?

You will need to provide:

  • A copy of your insurance certificate.
  • V5 log book if your details have changed (renewals only)

Please refer to our renewal guidance notes (doc) for further details prior to submitting your application.

Getting your vehicle tested

Before we can issue your licence your vehicle must pass a standard MOT and a specific vehicle examination test carried out by one of our approved testing stations (pdf).

What does the vehicle test include?

The vehicle will be subject to an MOT test and will also need to meet a number of extra standards required by us. These extra testing standards are  detailed in our vehicle testing manual (pdf).

Fees and charges

Our fees and charges page lists our current fees.