Taxi vehicle and driver licensing
There are two types of taxis vehicles that are licensed by us, hackney carriage and private hire.
Hackney carriages
These are vehicles that can pick up passengers in the street but are limited to charging what is on the meter. They can also take private hire bookings over the telephone.
They require:
- a licensed vehicle with a working meter
- a licensed driver
Private hire vehicles
These are vehicles that can only pick up pre-booked fares. They cannot ply for trade or sit on taxi ranks and must keep booking records.
They require:
- a licensed vehicle
- a licensed driver
- an operator’s licence
Types of Licences
To apply for a taxi licence for your vehicle, you will need to complete the online taxi vehicle licence application form, in the forms section below. You will be directed to payment automatically.
You will need to provide:
- The vehicle registration certificate (V5 Logbook)
- A valid motor insurance certificate (covering for hire & reward)
- A completed taxi test inspection form from an approved garage
- For new hackney carriages only: a valid calibration certificate from N&J Pitt Taximeter Services, Nottingham
Exclusions
- Vehicles over the age of 10 years cannot be licensed, except for fully wheelchair accessible vehicles and special vehicles (see policy available to download below).
- All vehicles on first registration must be less than 6 years old on the date of the application for the licence.
- Vehicles over the age of 8 years must undergo and pass two vehicle tests per year, at six-monthly intervals.
- The maximum number of passengers is 8. You must consider whether your vehicle can comfortably carry the number you request and luggage, and be able to justify this.
- All private hire vehicles issued with two door stickers for the vehicle. These stickers indicate that the vehicle can only be pre-booked and cannot be hailed in the street
- This is not a full list of exclusions and conditions. You must check our Policy for the latest requirements.
Existing licensed vehicles
Notify us of vehicle damage or collision
Taxi drivers must notify us of any damage to their licensed vehicle and inform us if their vehicle has been involved in a collision or incident within 72 hours of the incident. Please use the online form below.
If you wish to apply to be a private hire operator, you will have to show that you are "Fit and Proper" to hold this licence, as specified in the statutory and best practice guidance (see external links below)
You will then need to
- complete the application form (available to download below)
- provide a Statutory Declaration (available to download below)
- pay the correct fee in advance (see fees and charges)
- provide original documents to provide proof of right to work in the UK (opens in a new tab). For further information see the right to work in the UK section below.
- provide a basic disclosure report (opens in a new tab) from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for all applicants (Directors if a limited company or partners in a partnership company). The DBS disclosure certificate must be no older than one month from its issue date when applying.
- provide evidence of passing the Safeguarding Vulnerable Passenger Training (opens in a new tab)
We issue a three year combined hackney carriage and private hire drivers licence which allows a driver to drive either a hackney carriage or a private hire vehicle. One or two year licences are available under certain circumstances. Please contact Licensing Team for further information on this.
To apply for a licence you will need:
- to take and pass the taxi knowledge test (further information below)
- a completed application form (available to download below)
- a completed Mitie Applicant Consent Form (available to download below) to allow us to complete your Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) Criminal Records enhanced check via the company UKCRBS. You will need to apply for this through us. It can take approximately 8 weeks to be processed.
- a DVLA check (opens in a new tab). A free code can be generated on the DVLA website
- a medical form from a GP (available to download this below)
- a Passport photograph
- a Driving Licence
- to complete the Virtual Taxi Safeguarding Classroom course (opens in a new tab) run by the Bluelamp trust – £25 paid directly to them upon booking
- to complete the Virtual Disability Awareness Training Classroom course (opens in a new tab) run by the Bluelamp trust - £40 paid directly to them upon booking
- to subscribe to the DBS update service (opens in a new tab) once your DBS certificate has been received, you will then need to provide the licensing team with your certificate number and your consent (complete online form below). We are required to check your DBS, along with DVLA check, twice a year.
- Proof of your right to work in the UK (usually a UK passport). If you do not have a UK Passport, a list of acceptable documents (opens in a new tab) (List A, List B Group 1 and 2) is on the Gov UK website (For further information see right to work in the UK section below).
Knowledge test
Before your licence can be granted, you will need to take the local knowledge test for new drivers. This test is made up of three parts.
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Part one tests your knowledge of the legislation and our taxi licensing policy
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Part two tests your knowledge of the town streets and nearby transport links
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Part three is a test of your knowledge of the Highway Code.
Please email our licensing team using the contact details below to book a test. You must pay the £10 fee in advance and bring the receipt with you on the day of the test. We have produced some revision notes for the Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver's Test which you can download below.
Existing drivers
Notify us of changes
You must notify us in writing within 10 working days of a change of name or address (online form below).
You must notify us within 48 hours of an arrest and release, charge or conviction of any sexual offence, any offence involving dishonesty or violence and any motoring offence (online form below)
DBS update service check consent
We are required to check your DBS twice a year and need your consent to do this. This consent to check will last three years or until your next renewal of your Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver is due. Please complete the online form below to give your consent.
This applies to hackney carriage/private hire drivers and private hire operators for both new and renewal applications. Your right to work in the UK must be checked as part of your licence application. This could include checking your immigration status/sharing information with the Home Office. You must share your immigration status using the Home Office online checking service (opens in a new tab).
Where this check has been carried out, the profile page confirming your right to work will be saved.
Where a manual check is carried out using original documents from list A or B group 1 and 2 (opens in a new tab), for example UK passport, the documents will be copied.
In both cases, the copies will be retained by us and kept in accordance with our licensing privacy notice (opens in a new tab). Any original documents will be returned to you.
We will not need to repeat the check when you apply to renew or extend your licence, provided we have a copy of the documents that were originally checked, and the documents were not for a time limited period.
You will be invited to bring your original documents and any check codes to a face-to-face appointment. We will check
- photographs and dates of birth across documents and your appearance are the same.
- expiry dates for permission to be in the UK have not passed.
- any work restrictions that would stop you from holding a licence.
- that documents are genuine, have not been tampered with and belong to you.
- reasons for any difference in names across documents. For example, original marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute, deed poll.
Where there are restrictions on your right to work in the UK, a licence will only be issued (subject to statutory limitations) up to the expiry date of the permission to work. We will then check the immigration status each time an application is made. In this circumstance, a check will be repeated each time you apply to renew or extend your licence. If, during this period, you are disqualified from holding a licence because you have not complied with the UK’s immigration laws, your licence will lapse, and you must return it to us. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
Your application will not be considered valid until all the necessary information and any original documents have been produced.
Fees
The fees are available below. You cannot pay on collection of your licence. Please be careful to pay the correct fee as over payments will be refunded minus the admin fee of £33.
Please note one or two year hackney carriage and private hire drivers licences are available under certain circumstances. Please contact licensing for further information on this or if you are unsure on what fee to pay.
There is no application fee for a fully wheelchair accessible vehicle and there is a 25% reduction of fee for vehicles which are fuelled by LPG, petrol/+electric or compressed natural gas.
| New applications | Cost |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (3 years) | £318 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (2 years) | £220 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (1 year) | £120 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire vehicle licence (1 year) | £104 |
| Private hire operators licence (5 years) | £845 |
| Renewal applications | Cost |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (3 years) | £286 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (2 years) | £200 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire driver's licence (1 year) | £105 |
| Hackney carriage/private hire vehicle licence (1 year) | £94 |
| Private hire operators licence (5 years) | £760 |
| Miscellaneous | Cost |
| Driver knowledge test | £10 |
| Replacement private hire door signs | £17 |
| Private hire door signs (magnetic) | £22 |
| Extra plates (for example, on trailers) | £17 |
| Replacement badge | £15.50 |
| Replacement paper licence | £7 |
| Replacement internal plate/sticker | £15 |
| Replacement external plate | £22 |
| Other | Cost |
| Disclosure and Barring Service Check | £51.50 |
There are also the following additional charges to be aware of:
- Medical certificate (your doctor will charge you directly for this)
- Disability discrimination awareness training
- Child sexual exploitation awareness training
Report a taxi issue
Report any issues to us regarding a driver or vehicle.
Forms
You can apply online by filling out the correct form below. If there is a fee to pay, you will be directed to payment automatically. Please note that you must make payment by debit card.
If you need to make payment using alternative methods such as cheque or bank transfer, you cannot apply using the online form and you must contact the Licensing Team for paper form.
If sending photos of documents through a smartphone, you can reduce the size of photos before uploading them. Please check that the document can still be read clearly. Contact the Licensing Team if you have any questions.
To complete and download a copy of the following, please see the Downloads panel below:
- Taxi driver licence application
- GP medical certificate
- Statutory declaration form
- Mitie applicant consent form
Public registers
The following public registers are available to download from the Downloads panel below:
- Register of drivers
- Register of hackney carriage vehicles
- Register of private hire vehicles
- Register of private hire operators
Contact details
Licensing Team: licensing@melton.gov.uk