Starting a private hire firm in London: TfL operator licensing

This is for anyone setting up a minicab office, a chauffeur service or a contract-only firm inside Greater London. You'll get the TfL operator licence fees, what TfL inspects before it says yes, the rules that apply once you're licensed, and what your drivers and cars need. Every fee and licensing requirement here comes from TfL's own pages.

Do you need a TfL private hire operator licence?

Yes, if you take private hire bookings in London. TfL says anyone who takes payment for bookings or supplies drivers for hire without an operator licence is breaking the law and can be prosecuted.

TfL licenses all sorts of businesses this way: a high-street minicab office, firms that only do proms, hen nights and corporate events, one-person chauffeur services, tour guides, and firms that only do contract work such as council school runs. Its applicant guide (PHV/102) adds corporate limousines and diplomatic cars.

The exemptions are narrow. TfL's guide names two: firms that operate only licensed London taxis (black cabs), and firms that supply vehicles solely for weddings or funerals.

If your premises are outside Greater London, you apply to your local council instead. Our guide to the private hire operator licence in the UK covers that route.

The licence comes from section 3 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998: TfL must be satisfied you're a fit and proper person, and the licence runs for up to five years.

How much does a TfL private hire operator licence cost?

The fee depends on how many private hire vehicles you'll have available at any one time. For 0 to 10 vehicles it's £2,000 for a five-year licence: a £400 application fee and a £1,600 grant of licence fee.

You pay the application fee in full when you apply. It's non-refundable and TfL won't process the application until it's paid. If you're licensed for up to 20 vehicles, you pay the grant fee in full before the licence is issued; larger tiers can pay it in annual instalments. The grant fee charged is the one in force on the day the licence is issued.

Changing or adding an operating centre costs £300; removing one costs £50.

Pick the tier with growth in mind. TfL asks how many vehicles you'll have available at any one time for the life of the licence, and a licence condition says you mustn't go over it. If you start with 8 cars and expect 15 within five years, say so now. For how London compares with councils elsewhere, see taxi licence fees across UK councils.

What does TfL check before it grants the licence?

TfL checks your premises, your paperwork, whether you're fit and proper, and whether your systems can keep the records the law asks for.

Premises. You need at least one operating centre in London: the place where you take bookings. TfL says it can be an office, a high-street unit or your home address. You must show planning permission or a certificate of lawful use from the local authority, or written confirmation from the council that you don't need permission. TfL is reviewing licences at shared venues, and a centre shared with a business the public visits for something else, a nightclub or a bar for example, is unlikely to be accepted.

Paperwork. Email operators@tph.tfl.gov.uk for an application pack. You send back the PHV/101 application form, a PHV/103 personal declaration for each person named on the application, a PHV/108 form for each operating centre, the application fee and your planning evidence.

Fit and proper. The PHV/102 guide lists what TfL looks at: unspent convictions, bankruptcy, any disqualification as a company director, health and safety at your premises, your accounts, and employers' liability insurance where the law requires it.

Inspection. A TfL compliance officer visits the operating centre and checks your records for bookings, drivers, vehicles, insurance and complaints, plus how you'll confirm bookings to passengers. For a new, novel or ride-sharing service TfL may also review your technology.

If TfL says yes, you confirm your tier and pay the grant fee. You can't start operating until you hold the physical licence and have it on display in the operating centre. TfL says a typical application takes up to 16 weeks, and longer for unusual models.

What rules apply once you're licensed?

Quite a few, and a TfL officer can inspect your records at any time. These shape the office day to day:

• Booking records. Before each journey, record the date of the booking and of the journey, the passenger's name, the agreed pick-up time and place, the main destination, the agreed fare or an accurate estimate, the driver, any operator you passed the job to, and the vehicle. Since 1 July 2024 TfL also wants the name of whoever answered the booking request, whoever dispatched the car, the driver's PHV licence number and the registration. PHV/102 says keep booking records for 12 months from the day you accepted the booking.
• Staff register. Keep a register of everyone who takes bookings or dispatches cars, with a basic DBS check for each, and send TfL your policy on employing ex-offenders when you renew.
• Weekly upload. Every Monday, send TfL the drivers and vehicles you used or had available the week before.
• Contracting as principal. After a Divisional Court judgment on 6 December 2021, regulation 9(14) of the London operators' regulations says you contract directly with the passenger to provide the journey.
• Voice contact. A person must be available for passengers to speak to during your operating hours and while a journey is under way. TfL asks how you'll cover nights and weekends when the office is shut.
• Fares. Agree the fare or give an accurate estimate when you take the booking.
• Insurance. Hold public liability cover of at least £5m for any one event at any operating centre the public can walk into.
• Reporting. Tell TfL within 14 days if you dismiss a driver for unsatisfactory conduct. Anyone named on the licence must also self-report any arrest, charge, caution or conviction to TfL within two days.

The principal rule is a London rule. Outside London, the Supreme Court decided in D.E.L.T.A. Merseyside v Uber Britannia (29 July 2025) that the 1976 Act doesn't impose it. Our guide to private hire operator record keeping goes through the booking records in more depth.

What do your drivers need for a TfL private hire driver licence?

Every driver needs their own TfL private hire driver licence, and TfL says all licensed private hire drivers must work for a licensed operator. TfL's main requirements are:

1. Aged 21 or over when applying, with no upper age limit.
2. A full DVLA, Northern Ireland or EEA driving licence held for at least three years.
3. The right to live and work in the UK.
4. An enhanced DBS check through TfL's provider, and a continuous subscription to the DBS Update Service.
5. Medical fitness to DVLA Group 2 standards.
6. A topographical skills assessment at a TfL centre.
7. The English language requirement, at a level equivalent to B1: a 15 to 20 minute speaking and listening test with PeopleCert, plus the Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding (SERU) assessment for reading and writing.
8. TfL's online Safeguarding Awareness course before the SERU.
9. A Certificate of Good Conduct from any country where the applicant lived for three months or more in a row in the last 10 years.

Add those up and a new driver pays up to £534.42 in fees before the medical, depending on which assessments apply. TfL warns that new driver applications are taking longer than normal, and says it has no fast-track service: a third party offering one for a fee is a fraud. Recruit early. The wider picture is in our guide to taxi and PHV driver licence requirements.

Which cars can you license as private hire vehicles in London?

Any car that seats up to eight passengers can be a PHV, but since 1 January 2023 every PHV licensed in London for the first time must be zero emission capable (ZEC) and meet the Euro 6 standard.

To count as ZEC a car emits no more than 50g/km of CO2 with at least 10 miles of zero-emission range, or no more than 75g/km with at least 20 miles. Fully electric and hydrogen cars pass. Cars already licensed must be no older than 10 years when they're relicensed. Check before you buy, because TfL can refuse to inspect a car that fails.

The vehicle licence costs £84 to apply (non-refundable) and £56 to grant. At inspection, bring the V5C, your hire and reward insurance, an MOT certificate issued in the last 14 days and any modification papers. Licensed cars display TfL's licence discs and signage and must be right-hand drive, though TfL will consider exemptions. You can ask to be excused the discs; TfL weighs exceptional circumstances, the nature of the work and passenger security.

Then the running costs. PHVs lost their Congestion Charge exemption in 2019, and the daily charge is now £18 paid on the day or in advance, or £21 within three days after. The 100% Cleaner Vehicle Discount ended on 25 December 2025; from 2 January 2026 electric cars on Auto Pay get 25% off, so £13.50. Wheelchair-accessible PHVs keep the exemption on bookings for a TfL-licensed operator. Across London, a PHV that doesn't meet ULEZ standards pays £12.50 a day. For the costs of going electric, read moving a taxi fleet to electric.

In what order should you set it up?

Each step depends on the one before:

1. Decide what you'll offer and how many cars you'll have at any one time, so you pick the right fee tier.
2. Find the operating centre and get the planning evidence from the council.
3. Read TfL's PHV/102 guide, then request the application pack.
4. Send the forms, the planning evidence and the application fee.
5. Set up your booking records, staff register with basic DBS checks, complaints and lost property procedures, voice contact cover and insurance before the inspection.
6. Start your drivers' licence applications and line up ZEC cars at the same time, because driver licensing is slow.
7. Pass the compliance inspection, pay the grant fee and display the licence.
8. Take your first booking only once the licence is on the wall.

Where does booking software fit?

TfL's inspection looks at how you take bookings, confirm them and keep records, so choose the system before the officer visits. Whatever you pick, check that the booking record it writes has every field on TfL's list, including who answered and who dispatched.

Dispatch AI is booking and dispatch software for taxi and private hire firms. It answers your phone, WhatsApp, texts and emails, books the jobs at your prices and sends them to your drivers on your own app. An AI agent isn't a person, though, so on its own it doesn't meet TfL's voice contact requirement: you still need someone passengers can speak to during your operating hours. You can ring the demo line to hear how the booking side works, or see the prices.